January 9th, 2014 Edition

What makes relationships work?

By Bridjes O’Neil Of The St. Louis American

but ends up fighting to save his marriage amid allegations of betrayal and deceit.

“Relationships have always been intriguing to me,” Washington said, with a chuckle. “What makes them work and not work?” She wrote the book to celebrate all that a family is intended to be, and can be, when there is devotion, love and forgiveness. But people tend to get caught up in

pettiness, unwilling to forgive and move on, she said.

“It takes too much energy to be angry and bitter,” she said. “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. Use that energy on things that are positive.”

She has been struck by the impact the book is already

having on readers.

“A young man who read the book said to me, ‘It made me want to be a better husband and father,’” she said. “I sort of trembled, because that’s really what it’s all about.”

She has two other books under her belt. She co-authored The

Immersed in languages

STL Language Immersion Schools recognized internationally

By Rebecca Rivas

of

A

Leading an issue-oriented campaign was part of their class curriculum, but the

took it a step further to fundraise for the cost to pay for new locker keys – an expense that kept the school from allowing students to use the lockers previously, said Rhonda Broussard, president and founder of the St. Louis Language Immersion Schools. The second graders’ campaign is one example of what sets the immersion schools’ curriculum apart from other schools, she said. “Students are expected to be actors,” she

See SCHOOLS, A6

n “It takes too much energy to be angry and bitter.”

– Shirley Washington

Motherhood Club: Help, Hope, and Inspiration for New Mothers from New Mothers with Ann L. Dunnewold, a licensed psychologist. She was inspired

by her own challenges as a first-time mother.

“I’m on the phone almost

See NOVEL, A7

‘How can we make this better?’

By Sylvester Brown Jr.

and Old North St. Louis. In 2008, Aber founded the nonprofit Creative Exchange Laboratory (CEL), an incubator and forum for architecture and design. CEL’s primary mission is to encourage graduate students and emerging architects to gain valuable experience through public interest projects.

“We’re not necessarily waiting for a wealthy client to come to us and say, ‘Brand me’ or ‘design a beautiful house or headquarters,’” Aber said. “We proactively look in the

Daphne

and Deangelo

who are now first graders, play together in kindergarten. The St. Louis Language Immersion school district now has three campuses – the French, Spanish and Chinese schools – and a fourth one is on the way.

Photo by Wiley Price

Shirley Washington

Of The St. Louis American

group

second graders at the French School, a local language-immersion charter school, recently fought for the right to use school lockers – and won. Speaking in French, the students presented their arguments to Head of School Conrad Wildsmith.

second graders

French School students

Bishop

Robinson,

Photo by Bill Zurheide

Sylvester Brown Jr.

Is baby mama drama behind Jeezy arrest?

Jeezy was arrested last weekend in Atlanta for battery, false imprisonment, and making terrorist threats against his own son.

Documents obtained by TMZ.com claim Jeezy – whose real name is Jenkins – was involved in a fight with his son in a bathroom. He was said to have thrown his son into the glass shower door, causing the son to hit his head. Then Jeezy allegedly punched him in the face, dragged him into the bedroom, threw him on the bed and pummeled him.

The docs go on — claiming Jeezy choked his son and said, “I will kill you.”

According to police docs, Jeezy’s son claims his dad said, “I will put a bullet in your head right now,” adding,

“If I could get away with it, I would kill you.” The incident allegedly occurred in Sept., 2012.

Jeezy turned himself in to authorities Friday after a grand jury warrant for each charge was issued. He bonded out soon after for $45,000.

Sources would later tell TMZ that Jeezy was set up by his son’s mother.

TMZ, which broke the story, says sources connected to Jeezy told the site that the rapper and his 17-yearold son did indeed get into a huge argument in Sept., 2012, but it never turned really violent.

Jeezy sources say the son became belligerent and the two starting screaming at each other. Jeezy claims he never hit, choked, or dragged his son, but admits he shoved him to the ground when his son got in his face. As for the terroristic threats — the rapper claims all he said was something to the effect of, “I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it.”

The sources say the boy’s mother is behind the whole ordeal and is brainwashing her son against his father and trying to squeeze every penny she can get from Jeezy.

Did Rihanna sell herself on the stroll?

Twice a year the blind item celebrity news site Crazy Days and Nights reveal the identities on some of the blind items they post. The most recent reveal has the shocking claim that Rihanna spending an isolated evening as a streetwalking commercial sex worker.

The post reads as follows:

“A few years ago now, this A list celebrity singer was at a party with this B- list celebrity/reality star who is married to a B list mostly television actor. Got the players? Good. Speaking of players, our A lister confessed that she had always wanted to be a hooker for a night or two just to see what it was like. Everyone thought she said it as a joke, but apparently she was serious and the B list actor decided to set things up for the A lister and one night almost four years ago now, our singer became a hooker. This was not some escort thing where she went high class. This was low brow, street walking at its finest with a wig and an outfit that would blow you away. She charged street prices and acted just like any other woman on the stroll that night. The only difference was that she was watched over to make sure nothing happened to her and that she would not get busted by the police. There were always three or four people watching her. She worked from about 8pm to 6 the next

morning and made a few hundred bucks which she gave to other women on the street. No one recognized her and she said it made her a better person.

Reveal: Coco/Ice-T/Rihanna”

Wayne Brady kills Chilli dating rumors

After Us Weekly alleged singer Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas and Wayne Brady are a couple, Brady took to his Twitter account to squash the rumors.

The publication printed that a source saw Brady and Chilli cuddled up during a visit to Las Vegas.

“He kept her close to him the whole time. It has only been two weeks but they really like each other,” The source said. “They’ve been friends for years but there has always been this flirtation. Both of them had a hard time being single, so they love dating a friend and someone in the business. They make a really great couple.”

Brady denied the couple alert by way of a flattering tweet.

“Just to be clear Chilli and I are not dating, but who would want to though, right,” Brady tweeted. “Don’t believe everything you read.”

Sources: Crazy Days and Nights, Us Weekly, TMZ.com, Twitter.com

United Way honors Dr. King

Forum and fair on Jan.

18, call for volunteers in 2014

American staff

United Way of Greater St. Louis invites the public to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in three ways: by attending a forum about the region’s civic health on January 18, by attending an agency fair immediately following the forum and by volunteering.

From 9-11:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 18, United Way will host Creating a Beloved Community, a public forum to present the findings of the Missouri Civic Health Index, at the Center for Global Citizenship, 3672 West Pine (where Dr. King, Jr. spoke in St. Louis on October 12, 1946).

The forum will discuss a new study on the civic health in the St. Louis region and the state of Missouri by the National Conference on Citizenship, Missouri State University, St. Louis University, University of Missouri Kansas City, Washington University, Park University and University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Similar to Dr. King’s Sunday Suppers, this event will allow attendees to share a meal and discuss the findings and learn how they can make a difference in our community.

To register or learn more, visit stlvolunteer.org/MLK.

Immediately after the forum, United Way will

host an agency fair with 20 organizations. The fair will connect attendees to community resources and opportunities to volunteer and learn about more opportunities

These projects include beautification of streets and alleyways; facilitation of financial stability and technology workshops within low-income neighborhoods

n Working closely with stl250, United Way hopes to engage 250,000 volunteers in 1 million hours of service throughout the year.

to be involved in the community. In collaboration with nonprofit and for-profit entities, United Way requests 7,500 volunteers to help with educational, economic and environmental projects.

with an emphasis on serving veterans and military families; and opportunities to engage at one’s home, school or workplace through stl250 and United Way’s volunteer program. Working closely with

stl250, United Way hopes to engage 250,000 volunteers in 1 million hours of service throughout the year which embodies Dr. King’s teachings and passion to ignite, inspire and take action through service to others.

United Way of Greater St. Louis received funding from Points of Light (the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service) and the Corporation for National and Community Service (a federal agency that engages more than 5 million Americans in service through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and the Social Innovation Fund) to create new and meaningful ways to harness the passion of our nation’s citizens in honoring the memory and promoting the vision of Dr. King.

Compete with our intellect

By Roosevelt Mitchell For The St. Louis

American

As an African-American growing up, there was always an emphasis on sports from my community and friends. Even now when I turn on the television, the most heavily reinforced images of successful black men are sports figures. The latest news has been surrounding Kobe Bryant’s $48 million two-year contract extension. Prior to that, all of the attention was about Floyd Mayweather Jr., as he was featured in Forbes magazine as the highest-paid athlete in the world for the second straight year, earning an estimated $85 million in 12 months.

These numbers are very high, especially to young black males who grow up in poverty, but it sends the wrong the message to them. The media seem to always fail to mention that these two guys are tremendously gifted athletes who come around about once in a lifetime. Most black kids take from this the message that the only way to make this type of money is to hit the genetic lottery and have super-athletic abilities. That is not true.

sports figures and teach black men, through symbolism and media, to dream about contributing to society through athletics, while the other ways that black men can contribute to society do not garner attention.

We can contribute to society with our minds and intellects and become doctors, lawyers, scholars and writers. We don’t have to be born with a 40-inch vertical leap or be able to take a punch like a Mayweather to make that type of money.

Author E.L James made $90 million last year for her series of books called “50 Shades of Gray.” The C.E.O of McKesson, John H. Hammergren, made $131 million last year. Neither is a professional athlete. They contributed to society with their own God-given abilities and made more money than most athletes. So why aren’t their salaries plastered on CNN or in every magazine?

n As black men, we have to wake up and defy that type of selfdestructive thinking.

Mainstream media send out the message that as black men it is okay to be allergic to knowledge and quarantined in ignorance, because we are only useful when we are athletically gifted. As black men, we have to wake up and defy that type of self-destructive thinking. We must make a steadfast commitment that we can compete in mainstream society with our intellect and show that through the life of the mind we can add to society. You, young black brother, can be whatever you set your mind to, no matter what people think about us.

As a society, we idolize

“I got an insider’s look and the knowledge I needed to be even more successful.”

We are now accepting applications for the Spring 2O14 Workshop at Macy’s!

If you are a woman or person of color and own your own business, we invite you to apply for the Workshop at Macy’s! You’ll gain insight from seasoned Macy’s pros and Macy’s partners, and get the tools you need to succeed and sustain growth in the retail industry.

Apply today at macysinc.com/workshop

PICTURED: Kim Roxie, LAMIK Beauty. Past participant of The Workshop at Macy’s.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke in St. Louis at the Center for Global Citizenship, 3672 West Pine, on October 12, 1946.

Roosevelt Mitchell

Editorial /CommEntary

Black men must connect Defining the NSA’s role

We respect the potential of the New Year to motivate people to rethink their conduct and resolve to improve it. So we applaud the timing of 100 Black Men of Metropolitan St. Louis in hosting a symposium entitled “The Power of a Man’s Spirit” on Saturday, January 11, from 10 a.m. to noon at Vashon High School, 3035 Cass Ave. The event is free and open to the public. We strongly encourage the public to attend this community forum geared around selfempowerment with a special focus on the latent power of black men.

Several powerful and respected black men in our local clergy have agreed to speak to this important theme at this event on Saturday. The scheduled panelists are Pastor Michael Jones of Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church, the Rev. Dr. Freddy J. Clark of Shalom Church (City of Peace), the Rev. Rodney Francis of Washington Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church and Pastor Aeneas Williams of The Spirit Church. The symposium will be moderated by the Rev. Starsky Wilson of St. John’s United Church of Christ. We have the highest regard for these men and their power to influence our community, including our men, for the better. The American will report in depth on what they have to say online and in next week’s paper, for those unable to attend. We join these clergy leaders in advance in praying for hospitable weather so the largest possible audience will attend.

The goal of this symposium, according to its organizers, is to begin the New Year by providing information to help men of all ages “acknowledge and connect with their spiritual strength.” Our community needs men in touch with their own most powerful positive resources so that they can connect with their family and community. “We hope males become better educated about the importance of having a spirit that encourages and empowers them to lead their families and communities, rather than remaining disengaged and feeling hopelessness,” organizers announced. “A call to action for participants may include reclaiming their rightful place in the family, church and community as dictated by history, scripture, quotes and philosophy.”

This “rightful place” is also dictated by new research documented in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new National Health Statistics report. In a study of father involvement in the United States from 2006–2010, CDC researchers found that black fathers living with their children were more directly involved in caring for their children than fathers from any other demographic who live with their children. Among fathers who live with their children, “black fathers (70 percent) were most likely to have bathed, dressed, diapered or helped their children use the toilet every day compared with white (60 percent) and Hispanic fathers (45 percent),” stated study leaders Jo Jones and William D. Mosher of the center’s Division of Vital Statistics. This impressive degree of attentiveness by black fathers who live with their children continued as children advanced beyond toilet training to academic education.

“A larger percentage of black fathers (41 percent) had helped their coresidential children with homework every day in the last four weeks compared with Hispanic (29 percent) or white (28 percent) fathers” who live with their children, they reported.

So the power of a black man’s spirit is not just an unsupported article of faith among our clergy leaders. It is a point of fact, according to the latest research data. Importantly, it debunks the stereotype about detachment and irresponsible parenting among all black men. When our men connect, they connect deeply and give so much of themselves. Our children, families and community need our men to stay connected precisely because their love is so very powerful.

Those interested in attending “The Power of a Man’s Spirit” are encouraged to register online at www.100blackmenstl.com/powerofaman.com. For more information, contact the 100 Black Men of St. Louis at 314-367-7778.

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

Changing the livable wage debate

I believe economic fairness, as an issue, will dominate the airwaves, the workplace and the streets in 2014. Jobs (or lack thereof) along with employment benefits were front and center last year. Although the extraordinary mobilizations by fast-food workers were a major impetus, a growing unrest has been bubbling for some time now (Viva Occupy!). The struggles coincide with the widening gulf between the stagnated wages of workers for the last 20 years and the ballooned salaries of corporate CEOs and their companies’ obscene profits. We should begin by using more accurate and descriptive words that put incomes in real context. This will help in reframing the overall public discussion about wages and counteracting the erroneous notion that workers are lazy and looking for freebies. The first thing is to stop using the term “minimum wage.” We should replace “minimum” with ‘unfair” or “unlivable” wages. These terms are more precise and more measurable. Conversely, a livable wage is a fair or decent wage. A livable wage is the minimum hourly income that a worker needs to meet basic needs and factors given the cost of living where the worker resides.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 50 million of us are members of an impoverished class, with half of those in deep poverty. Another 100 million of us are just a paycheck or two from falling into the abyss of poverty. About 27 million adults are unemployed or underemployed. The millions above in that impoverished class are forced to rely on some form of public support in order to make ends meet. Ironically, these traditional government supports have not kept up with reality (inflation, cost of living, etc.) and are under continuous assaults from Republicans. Forbes magazine broke down the income for the average Fortune 500 CEO in 2012. It was nearly $11 million and included salary, personal perks and stock options. The best paid corporate don was John H. Hammergren of healthcare company McKesson with a scandalous compensation package of $131.2 million. When fast food workers say they can’t survive off $7.35, it’s not just a catchy slogan; it’s absolutely true. These workers are demanding a $15 livable wage.

McDonald’s response to their disgruntled workers was to suggest a ridiculous budget (dubbed the “McBudget”) that included a second job to help meet basic expenses. However, the budget expenses seemed to be from a parallel universe where human needs such as food and clothing were free.

I prefer to use the Living Wage Calculator developed by the folks at MIT who use modest figures but give a

thorough look at every county in the U.S. It appears that a sizeable number of families in St. Louis and Missouri are in that impoverished class since the unlivable wage is $7.50. Just to keep us economically depressed, Missouri law requires that its wage rate stay lower than the federal rate.

As someone who worked on raising the wage in the state, I’d be the first to say that $7.50 is still unacceptable – still unfair, still unlivable.

Lastly, workers cannot succumb to divide-and-conquer tactics by companies. I’ve heard and read some workers’ respond to the fast food workers’ campaign by saying they don’t deserve $15 an hour for flipping burgers. This is a put-down on the value of the workers. Even worse, it helps to maintain the slave-wage hierarchy for all workers. If you think you deserve more for what you do as a worker, you’re probably correct. Instead of us fighting one another for crumbs, join the campaign to lift all wages from unlivable to livable.

Our duty in 2014 is to put some fire under state and federal legislators to fight for American families and communities and not engage in laws and policies that undermine the viability of both. We must actively support the worker campaigns fighting for livable wages and human dignity. When families have decent jobs and fair wages, they can participate in growing the economy, raising their families and shaping our democracy. That’s when we all will benefit.

President Obama’s anticipated reform of the National Security Agency’s practices needs to go beyond ending the mass surveillance of innocent Americans’ phone calls. He should force the agency to think less about the quantity of information it gathers and more about the quality.

Obama should ignore the choir of apologists singing in lamentation over the beastly way the NSA is being treated. I refer to voices such as that of Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., who on Monday accused Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. -- and, by extension, all the agency’s critics -- of “trying to create this paranoia among Americans that the NSA is spying on everyone.”

In fact, the NSA is spying on everyone by keeping a detailed log of our private phone calls. This practice was sanctioned by secret court rulings that stretched the words of the Constitution and the Patriot Act beyond recognition. We couldn’t challenge these rulings because we weren’t allowed to know about them. When asked last March whether any such blanket domestic surveillance was taking place, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lied to Congress and said no. In what universe is it “paranoia” to be angry about all of this?

King and the rest of the NSA chorus blame whistleblower Edward Snowden for getting

the agency in trouble over the phone surveillance and other rogue practices, such as eavesdropping on the cellphone conversations of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and secretly tapping into the data streams of major Internet providers. But Snowden just revealed these abuses. It was the NSA that committed them -- and brought this world of hurt on itself.

The Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies -- one of two blue-ribbon panels Obama appointed to examine the NSA mess -- recommended that the agency stop compiling its comprehensive log of domestic phone calls. This information should be kept by the phone companies or some third party, the review group said, and the government should have to obtain warrants to search it.

Obama should go further and ask why the agency needs to assemble all that information in the first place. I don’t think there’s a good answer.

One member of the panel, former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell, subsequently said that he thought the phone-data program “would likely have prevented” the 9/11 attacks, but he did not offer evidence to back up this assertion.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled last month that the collection of phone data was likely unconstitutional. Two weeks later, however, U.S. District Judge William Pauley ruled in a separate case that the program was legal. Pauley went so far as to detail how he believed the phone data could have allowed authorities to prevent 9/11 -- essentially, by revealing that one of the hijackers, Khalid al-Mihdhar, was in the United States. But Lawrence Wright, author of “The Looming Tower,” a highly acclaimed book about the 9/11 attacks, argues in The New Yorker that Pauley’s reasoning is flawed. Mihdhar was already on the CIA’s roster of al-Qaeda suspects. The CIA knew that he had a U.S. visa and that his friend and traveling companion, another hijacker named Nawaf al-Hamzi, was in the United States. The problem was that the CIA didn’t pass along this information to the FBI, which conducts domestic terrorism investigations. An existing -- and entirely appropriate -- court order allowed the FBI to conduct basically whatever kind of surveillance it wanted on known or suspected al-Qaeda members. But the bureau wasn’t told that Mihdhar was in the country. This story illustrates what I think is the big problem with the NSA’s vacuumcleaner method of gathering intelligence. In every example of thwarted attacks cited by NSA apologists, analysts searched the data for previously identified individuals or phone numbers. So why on earth does the agency need to store my phone records, and yours, when it can quickly obtain a court order instructing the phone companies to turn over information about communications involving known or suspected terrorists? Analyzing and sharing the right tidbits of pertinent information is hard, but that’s the best way to prevent future attacks -- and that’s what Obama should tell the NSA to do.

Letters to the editor

Make a positive impact

Recently we were blessed to hear about the life, times and legacy of President Nelson Mandela. His life spoke of the benefits of self-sacrifice and also is evidence of a good force working in him that continues to result in more liberation, peace and joy. We see people who have benefited directly from his efforts and who are now free to do the same for still others. From the life of Mr. Mandela we saw a semblance of the story of Joseph (recorded in the Bible) as he went from prison to president while peace resonated in him.

When General Colin Powell was interviewed shortly after the death of President Mandela, he was asked what he thought this great warrior for justice would want others to learn from his life. General Powell said in effect that President Mandela would want others to grasp the principles he utilized to help himself and others to make a positive impact for good in the world.

Allif Dove, Via email

Increase the minimum wage

I applaud those fast food workers who took to the storefronts and sidewalks in St. Louis and across the nation to protest low wages in an immense one-day strike. These hardworking men and women are rising up to be beacons in the struggle for a fair wage in this country. I respect the difficult decision each of these individuals has made. The nonviolent protest is one of the greatest weapons of change, and these individuals came armed to the teeth for this fight. With the legislation I have pre-filed, Senate Bill 531, I believe that we can make a difference in the existences of today’s minimum wage earners. SB 531 would require the minimum wage in Missouri to increase, from $7.35 to $10 per hour as of Jan. 1, 2015, if voters in the Show-Me State

approve the statute. Increasing the minimum wage will enable these workers to stand on their own two feet and reduce dependence on the millions of dollars provided to them in the form of state and federal assistance.

State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed St. Louis

Close the test score gap

A part of any sustained effort to close the test score gap has to be a real movement for equal economic opportunity. That includes state education policies and funding formula that create opportunities for students who lack them. At the very least, it means opposing schemes that reinforce the pessimism of circumstances by stripping funding from schools that serve the impoverished. Instead, it means championing more funding for those schools as part of a program to open doors for social and economic advancement for children and youth from disadvantage backgrounds, especially doors that are big enough so that disadvantaged youth don’t have to make the decision to leave their families and communities behind, but can bring them along with them.

Peter Downs, St. Louis

Grateful at Habitat

Thank you all for the wonderful article and photo on Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis’ Homebuyer program. On behalf of everyone at Habitat, we are grateful for your interest in our organization and appreciative of the hours you spent researching and preparing the story/photo.

Maxine Goldstein, Via email

EDITOR’S NOTE

The group credit for the Year In Review tabloid (Dec. 26, 2013) was omitted by error. Year In Review was

Columnist Eugene Robinson

produced by The St. Louis American editorial staff with the assistance of intern Erica Van Buren.

Zion Leon Hite IV enjoys the view of dancers on the shoulders of his father, Leon, during the Dancing in the Streets Festival in Grand Center. Photo by Wiley Price

Columnist Jamala Rogers

Feds grant

$7.5M to troubled

schools

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded $7.5 million in grant money to Missouri’s lowest-achieving schools. The funds will go to schools identified by the department as priority schools.

In the St. Louis Public School District, those are Dunbar Elementary, Laclede Elementary, Roosevelt High School, Meramec Elementary, Earl Nance, St. Elementary, Yeatman-Liddell Middle School, Oak Hill Elementary and Sumner High School.

In Riverview Gardens School District, the schools funded are Lewis and Clark Elementary, Lemasters Elementary, Meadows Elementary and Moline Elementary

Grants were also awarded to Martin Luther King Elementary in Kansas City 33 and Frederick Douglass High School in Columbia Public Schools.

This is the fifth consecutive year the grants have been awarded to Missouri, one of seven states receiving a total of more than $43 million in 2013.

The U.S. Department of Education expects the grant money to be used for the implementation of one of four rigorous school intervention models: turnaround, restart, school closure or transformation.

Missouri schools that have received grants have typically used the money for additional staff, such as instructional coaches or college and career readiness counselors; technology; implementation of reading and math programs; extended learning opportunities, such as Saturday school, extended days, or classes during spring and winter break; and professional development for teachers and staff.

Wink, wink

New

arts program at county library

St. Louis County Library will introduce a new preschool art program starting in January called Budding Artists. All 20 SLCL locations will offer the program, which is geared towards children ages 3-6.

Instead of showing kids a sample and asking them to create a replica; kids will be given supplies, some ideas and asked to make their own creation. Budding Artists focuses on the process of making art, rather than the finished product.

The library will foster creativity in preschoolers by offering a variety of activities each month, including kitchen utensil art, ice cube water colors and more. All 20 branches are offering Budding Artists programs. To view a full schedule of events, visit www.slcl.org/kids/budding-artists.

Lost family wealth

By Charlene Crowell Guest Columnist

The National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) recently unveiled new and disturbing research on how communities of color are suffering a worsening racial economic disparity. The State of Housing in Black America reveals that while the private sector and financially secure consumers recover financial ground from the Great Recession, much of Black America is being economically left behind.

Long-time civil rights activist Dr. Benjamin Chavis Jr., wrote the report’s foreword advising, “African Americans have a large buying power nowadays, yet we continue to be the most foreclosed and wealth-depleted community in America. We cannot and will not just be bystanders as the American economy continues to rebound.”

Julius L. Cartwright, NAREB president added, “Not only has our homeownership rate plummeted, but also accessing mortgage credit has become nearly impossible outside of government-insured programs such as the FHA and VA.”

The report examines how African Americans and Latinos have been cut off from the housing market and home finance in addition to employment opportunities.

Today, the majority of mortgage loans made to African Americans is FHA-backed. Though FHA’s down-payment requirement is low (usually 3.5 percent), costs for these loans have increased, particularly in the areas of mortgage insurance and fees. Consequently, FHA loans will cost more over the life of the loans and they will also be higher than a decade ago.

By contrast, the report states that loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, “are all but impossible for many African Americans to secure.” The typical credit scores of borrowers for these mortgages are in the upper 700 range with down payments at or near 20 percent and usually resulting in a more affordable monthly payment.

According to James Carr, lead author for the report, “One of the major problems with most proposals to revamp Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is that access and affordability is not the driving goal of those recommendations. Rather, risk-sharing between the private and public sector seems to be the driving mantra.”

Nearly five million borrowers remain either in the foreclosure process or are seriously delinquent on their mortgages. Between January 1, 2007 and May 31, 2013, nearly 14.8 million foreclosure notices were filed. Since the onset of the crisis, African Americans had 7.8 percent of mortgage originations, but 11.6 percent of completed foreclosures.

The loss of homes to foreclosures is also lost family wealth. While AfricanAmerican families lost 53 percent of their net worth, non-Hispanic white households lost wealth was limited to 16 percent.

The report states, “More than 90 percent of the amount of total aggregate wealth lost during the collapse of the housing market and the subsequent recession has been recovered. However this wealth recovery is not equally shared across households as a large proportion has occurred for stocks that are disproportionately held by high-income, typically non-Hispanic white households.”

The report urges measurable progress in four key areas before consumers of color can begin to financially recover:

• Reducing the existing number of underwater mortgages through principal reduction;

• More consumer mortgage purchase originations

• Easing of tight mortgage credit; and

• Reducing the growth of investor purchases that transform former owneroccupied dwellings into rental properties.

Charlene Crowell

Yaminah Muhammad, 2, winks at her mother during a Kwanzaa program held recently at Afro World, 7276 Natural Bridge Rd.

Photo by Wiley Price

SCHOOLS

Continued from A1

said. “They are expected to recognize needs and take actions – not wait for someone else to do it for them.”

In December, Broussard learned that the French School and Spanish School have joined the ranks of 1,100 elementary schools worldwide, 400 in the U.S., and only three others in Missouri to offer the International Baccalaureate Organization’s Primary Years Programme (PYP) curriculum.

The authorization to offer the PYP curriculum is something the schools have been working towards for the past five years, she said. The PYP curriculum is focused on creating action-oriented leaders through inquiry-based learning, she said. Although St. Louis Language Immersion Schools has been geared in this direction since the beginning, the authorization means more professional development for teachers and hence stronger, more innovative classrooms.

Broussard founded the St. Louis Language Immersion Schools (SLLIS) in 2009, starting with the French and Spanish schools. In 2012, SLLIS opened the Chinese School. And now the International School, a secondary campus, will open with sixth grade in August. Its charter from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is overseen by the University of Missouri – St. Louis.

In total, SLLIS has 865 students in three schools, and all are enrolled at capacity this year. The highest in demand is the Spanish School with 380 students.

St. Louis is among few cities that are offering this curriculum and language immersion in public schools – especially with their student demographic, she said.

“When you look nationwide, there are opportunities in private schools with privateschool price tags,” she said. “And you are used to thinking of larger cities that are serving large minority populations. To do this with regular Englishspeaking kids, that really sets us apart.”

Minorities

in language immersion

About 57 percent of the schools’ students are AfricanAmerican and almost 10 percent Hispanic, according to data from DESE.

SLLIS’ achievement gap among minorities mirrors that of many other charter

by

Blown away!

and public schools. AfricanAmerican students are trailing their white counterparts considerably in both math and English language arts according to the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test scores.

At the French School in 2013, only 9 percent of black third graders tested “proficient or advanced” in English and 41 percent scored “below basic” – compared to 69 percent of white third graders testing “proficient or advanced” and zero scoring “below basic.”

At the Spanish School in 2013, black third graders fared a little better with 14.3 percent scoring “proficient” in English

and 20 percent “below basic.”

SLLIS’ African-American third graders scored below those attending the St. Louis Public Schools in 2013. At SLPS, 19 percent of black third graders scored “proficient or advanced” and 30 percent “below basic.” About 45 percent of white SLPS third graders scored “proficient or advanced” in English.

Overall the SLLIS’ state test scores showed some improvement from last year, with 31 percent of the district’s student population scoring “proficient or advanced” in English – a six percent jump from 2012. However, the

schools dropped eight percent in math, with 25.8 percent scoring proficient or advanced.

Paying homage

Broussard said the three schools – French, Spanish and Chinese – represent Missouri’s top three trade partners: Canada (where French is one of two national languages), Mexico and China.

Broussard decided to start with the French and Spanish schools partly to “pay homage to our city’s founders,” she said.

An African American from

Lafayette, Louisiana, Broussard first came to St. Louis to study at Washington University, where she majored in French and secondary education. She also holds a master’s degree in French studies from New York University.

Broussard said SLLIS has impacted public education by giving families the opportunity to truly understand global expectations – not just the demand for speaking multiple languages but also the demand for action-minded leaders.

“Oftentimes when teachers go through teacher education training, they are not taught how to create inquiry in their

classrooms,” she said. “In traditional settings, many teachers feel offended when students ask, ‘Why are we learning this?’ In our community, we expect students to ask questions.” She said the PYP authorization is a testament to the schools’ teamwork since 2009.

Broussard said she applauds the schools’ parents, board of directors and sponsors –but especially those working hard in the classrooms. She said, “I’m really proud of our students and teachers because they are the creative minds that make this work.”

Photo

Wiley Price

Marius Jones, 40, a staffer at the Lucas Heights Apartments in the 2900 block of Delmar Boulevard, pushed a snow blower through the pathways of the complex on Tuesday afternoon. Snow accumulation reached 12 to 15 inches in the city.

PROJECT

Continued from A1 community, in the city, in the neighborhoods and ask, ‘How can we make this better? How can we add to the quality of life?’”

Improving the quality of life is a catalyst for positive economic and social change by creating jobs for the community within the community, Aber said.

Aber asked our Sweet Potato Project students to imagine their own space. They responded with visions of a building with an industrialsized kitchen and enough land to grow, store and sell their produce and products. They described a home where they can hang out with access to positive literature, classes and computers, with famous quotes and images on the walls.

communities in metropolitan areas. The incentive, he said, would motivate them to stay and build economic engines in their own neighborhoods.

Aber has committed to walk with the Sweet Potato Project as we seek a permanent location with enough space to carry out the big picture: massive farming and sustainable production of fresh produce and food-based products in North St. Louis. The key will be collaborating with like-minded individuals who have economic, social and psychological developments already underway.

n “We proactively look in the community, in the city, in the neighborhoods and ask, ‘How can we make this better?’”

– Jasmin Aber

Aber’s approach opened my eyes to powerful possibilities. She invited our students to dream of their own space. Imagine the sense of empowerment they will have in five or so years when it becomes reality. Aber’s example begs the question: How often are residents in lowincome communities involved from inception in developments in their own neighborhoods?

In a 1965 interview, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called on the government to invest $50 billion so poor people could rebuild their own

NOVEL

Continued from A1

every day calling my mom, ‘Mom, the baby won’t stop crying! What do I do?’” Washington said. At the time, she lived in Atlanta, miles away from close family and friends in her hometown, St. Louis. After reading several books in the “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” series and an unsuccessful library search for information that would help her settle into her new role, she decided to write her own book. She was led to write her second book, A Gift for Girls: Words of Wisdom from Successful Women, by conversations she had with a group of college students in Dallas. She found that these students were unsure of themselves and their place in

North Side rebound

Consider Jason Wilson, the owner of Chronicle Coffee, located near the intersection of Page and Grand avenues. In an interview with The American early last year, Wilson explained why he chose to invest in an area surrounded by “dilapidated buildings, check cashing facilities and liquor stores.”

“Instead of someone saying, ‘This is a neighborhood that’s falling apart, has a high crime rate and nothing’s really going on here,’” Wilson told The American, “you control the narrative and tell people what you want them to feel about the community.”

Visitors to the coffee shop are exposed to a comfortable, professional environment where vintage photographs of the Blumeyer high-rise

life. So she asked successful women to offer advice to these young women and others like them.

n “A young man who read the book said to me, ‘It made me want to be a better husband and father.’”

– Shirley Washington

“I love talking with people who have the greatest success stories, because usually you’ll discover that it didn’t happen overnight,” she said. “Whatever it is you want to do, you have to keep working at it.” Washington, a native of South St. Louis, joined KTVI, a FOX News affiliate, in April 2007. She is an Emmy awardwinning broadcast journalist anchoring weekends alongside Elliot Davis. Washington said she will continue giving back to her community and trying to provide positive guidance in her books. She said, “When you write, you never know how that will impact someone’s life.”

“The Diary” by Shirley Washington is available at eBook retailers.

public housing projects (built near Chronicle’s location) are prominently displayed. As customers sip coffee, dine or play chess, the photographs serve as subtle reminders to spark positive dialogue about the possibilities of controlling the community’s destiny. Further west on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, the Greater Ville area in the 4th Ward – once prominent, due to economic activity spurred by the now-shuttered Homer G. Phillips Hospital – is attempting a grand rebound. New housing and senior citizen developments, along

with community gardens and small business projects, will restore the Ville to its days of luster, says Harold Crumpton, president of the Greater Ville Neighborhood Association. Nearby, in the 18th Ward, the North Sarah development project – led by McCormack Baron Salazar – is coming to fruition. Among the new housing and storefronts, the Progressive Emporium & Education Center has reopened its doors at 1108 N. Sarah Ave., providing a positive space where people can find the guidance to, as Wilson says, “control the narrative.”

Melvin J. White, founder and president of Beloved Streets of America, has launched an impressive effort to reclaim, rebuild and rebrand Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. from Illinois to St. Louis County. Plans are underway to launch Legacy Park near Wellston, modeled after University City’s Loop, where robust economic activity is sustained by diverse cultural interaction.

The Sweet Potato Projects aims to join and build upon these sustainable economic and social developments through our partnerships

others. Thanks to Aber’s inspiration, we also now recognize the powerful possibilities of collaborating with a purposeful goal of empowering low-income residents and communities by design.

with Jasmin Aber’s Creative Exchange Laboratory, St. Louis University’s Department of Dietetics and Nutrition, Gateway Greening and

Sylvester Brown Jr. is founder of Sweet Potato Project and a writer from North St. Louis.

Sweet Potato Project students

Elesha Harris and Mirramoni Buford listen to Jason Wilson of Chronicle Coffee, along with Herman Noah, a board member of North Area Community Development Corporation, which administers the project.

Vigil remembers lives lost in 2013

By Rebecca Rivas Of the St. Louis American

Clara Walker, 51, had nine children and eight grandchildren. On Dec. 29 at about 1:40 p.m., Walker was hit by a stray bullet from a shooting in front of her apartment near Fairground Park in North St. Louis City. She was simply looking out her front window when the bullet struck her. Walker was one of the last lives taken by senseless violence in 2013, and her life was honored and remembered at the annual New Year’s Eve candlelight vigil for homicide victims in St. Louis City and County. The vigil was held at Williams Temple Church of God In Christ, 1500 North Union Boulevard, at 4 p.m. on Dec. 31.

Police officers and community members read out loud the names of the 120 people in St. Louis City and 20 in St. Louis County who were murdered in 2013. More than 100 people attended the vigil. They sat in silence – praying into the flickering candles they held – while those who lost their lives were remembered.

Before the reading, the St. Louis City mayor, police chiefs and various legislators offered words of sympathy and encouragement to the victims’ families.

“We go into this new year remembering what happened last year,” said Lewis Reed, president of the Board of Aldermen. “We can do better, and we’re going to do it as a community. We know we need to get the guns off the streets.”

Jeanette Culpepper, founder of Families Advocating Safe Streets, has been holding the candlelight service since 1991 – when her son, Curtis Weldon Johnson Jr., 22, was shot and killed.

“Everyone hurts the same,”

we will never stop seeking justice. There is no statute of limitation on a homicide.”

Fitch said this was his last year of attending the vigil as chief, reminding the crowd that he was retiring this year.

“Even though we retire, we never forget about your loved ones,” he said.

Metropolitan Police Department Chief Sam Dotson swore to tighten police strategies to decrease violent crime in the city. Of the homicide victims in St. Louis City, 105 were African American and 97 were male.

“The best hope that we have is the hope that we see in this room,” he said. “The combined power of an engaged public working with law enforcement towards a goal.”

she said. “No one hurts less, and I am honored to know that these families’ losses have been remembered for 22 years.”

Culpepper said when her son was killed, she didn’t want his life to be forgotten and she knew many other parents felt the same way. She also remembers going through the process of seeking justice for her son. For many of the parents, their designated homicide detectives become like family members, she said. “I had a really nice detective who told me I could call him anytime,” she said.

“Sometimes parents don’t get this treatment. But homicide detectives are a unique set of police. They have to hear crying in the phone all day. It takes a special one to wear that hat.”

St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch said he appreciated that special connection with families when he worked as a homicide detective.

“The most appealing part of my 34-year law enforcement career has been the time spent in the homicide unit,” he said. “Even though things may change and years go on,

Throughout the service, musicians including choral group Joyfullettes and singer Denise Atty lifted the attendees spirits and brought to them to their feet many times to join the singing. Several pastors also helped to keep the families focus on prayer, including Bishop Lawrence M. Wooten of William Temple Church, Elder Nelson Watts Jr., pastor of El-Bethel C.O.G.I.C., and Rev. David L. Battle, pastor of Bread of Life Pentecostal Apostolic Church. James Clark of Better Family Life talked about reaching out to those in the community who are on the wrong path. Better Family Life meets every Saturday at 10 a.m. at the BFL Community Outreach Center at 6017 Natural Bridge Ave. Residents meet to talk about success and challenges in their personal growth, and then they go out into the community to talk to others about opportunities in job training programs. For more information about the Put Down the Pistol program, call 314-3818200.

Rosetta Chinn

Carrie Redmond

We thank God for loaning his angel to be with us all these years, and she will be greatly missed by family and friends. We have to remember she was only here on borrowed time, as we all are. We love you so very much, but that wasn’t enough to make you stay. We can remember all your famous saying, “I love you my darling”, “Lord Have Mercy”, “It’s the life you live and the service you give” and “Have a blessed life.” This we will hold to our hearts.

Rosetta Chinn, lovingly known as “I.T.” was born on May 21, 1927 in St. Louis, MO to Claude and Rosa Lee Chinn. She was the third of five siblings, prededed in death by two brothers, James and Clarence Chinn. She grew up in Kennerly Temple Church of God in Christ. She enjoyed playing piano for the senior choir. She was a product of St. Louis City Schools and was a proud graduate of Simmons Grade School and Sumner High School Class of 1945. She received her undergraduate degree from Stowe Teacher’s College (Harris-Stowe State University). She received a Master’s degree from the University of Illinois, qualifying as a Reading Specialist with St. Louis Public Schools. She further continued her teaching career in Los Angeles, CA. She was a lifelong member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority. Her home was always a place for family gatherings, favorite holidays and backyard cookouts. She enjoyed playing Bridge, the organ and the piano. She was a world traveler, crafted seamstress and enjoyed cooking. She was among the first residents to move into Pope John Paul II senior apartments. Rosetta leaves to mourn her passing: siblings, Arie Lee Wilson and Levi Chinn; sistersin-law, Helen and Minnie Chinn and a host of nieces and nephews. Special thanks goes to Lester Wilson, a devoted and loving nephew; special friends, LaWanda Leloch and Ossie McNeil; and the staff at St. Sophia Nursing Home. The family would also like to thank Fresh Winds Church, family and friends for their love and support during our time of sorrow.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Free Presentation by Simeon Wright at 6 PM Beneit Jazz Concert at 7:30 PM with an appearance by Denise Thimes ($15 in advance, $20 at the door)

For more information or to purchase tickets go to chaminade-stl.org and click on the Martin Luther King, Jr. banner

Proceeds beneit Chaminade’s St. Jude/St. Joseph Scholarship for minority students

Special thanks to our event sponsor Millennium Financial Group

Rosetta Chinn

Frederick Hudson Sr.

Tina Caldwell holds an enlargement of her son Desmond Caldwell during last week’s 22nd Annual Families Advocating Safe Streets (FASS) program at Williams Temple New Year’s Eve. Photo by Wiley Price

Slay blows snow storm

Even your favorite mayor, whoever that may be, could have blown the response to the weather event that descended on St. Louis over the weekend. St. Louis weather was so extreme historically that it made the cover of The Washington Post – with a clever headline about maybe it not being such a good idea to meet in St. Louis after all, at least not during something we have never heard about called a “polar vortex” mixed with something you don’t see every winter day, namely blizzardlike conditions.

The minute-by-minute verdict on social media was that Mayor Francis G. Slay (full disclosure: not our favorite mayor) and his Streets Director Todd Waelterman blew the clean-up of this weather event. Alderman Antonio French (full disclosure: also not a Slay fan) tweeted up a storm with his Instagram posts of major North City streets getting steadily buried under snow, with no snow plow in sight for days. To show that more than inconvenience was at issue, French posted a picture of a vehicle that plunged offroad into a cemetery on an unplowed North Side artery. French is a staunch advocate for North City and his 21st Ward and a leader in making public stands about disparities in response, South versus North, from this mayor’s office. But in this case, there was not much of a disparity. People piped up from all over the city complaining of unplowed streets. Even PostDispatch business reporter Tim Logan tweeted his

puzzlement that the Central Corridor remained a tundra for so long. Still more, much of the downtown that has received so much focus from Slay stayed sludgy and treacherous longer than made sense.

The chatter around the Post water cooler (that is, in recent days, the water freezer) was surely closer to Logan’s candor than readers of the Post – who are so seldom invited to the grown-ups table by Post editors – would guess by its coverage. A Wednesday Post report that was otherwise detailed in its coverage of community impact left by the storm reflected precisely zero of the citizenry’s puzzlement and frustration at the city’s response.

Waelterman sounds breezy in the Post story. “North-south streets were beginning to clear up,” the Post reporter summarizes the Slay senior staffer, “but east-west streets still had some slush on them, requiring additional plowing through Tuesday evening.”

Waelterman’s direct quote:

“Fortunately, it’s warming up and things are popping. But it’s still sloppy.”

Things are popping!

Waelterman meant the ice, but it sounds like a swinging party out there. Again, to be fair, any mayor of this under-resourced city you prefer, whoever that may be, might have done no better than Slay with this storm. But one thing should be clear.

Metropolitan governments need resources to do socialist things like plow the common roadways, North and South, main and side. Therefore, governments need to collect

revenues by levying taxes on corporations, businesses and individuals. It needs the benefit of similar taxes collected by the state government as well. That is why the truly dangerous thing about Francis Slay in connection to this storm is not his senior Streets staffer’s inadequate response to cleaning it up. The truly dangerous thing is Slay’s close connection to his largest funder, Rex Sinquefield, a staunch opponent of the city’s earnings tax and the state’s current tax codes, which are reasonably progressive, compared to alternatives favored by Sinquefield. St. Louis will recover from this storm, but will it survive Slay’s staunch loyalty to billionaire libertarian Sinquefield and his system of beliefs?

Black caucus meets with Nixon

At press time the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus was holding its first-ever meeting

with Gov. Jay Nixon. Caucus chair state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed managed to get Nixon – who has been, on the whole, dismissive of many important caucus concerns over many years – to schedule the meeting following the dust-up over Nixon leveraging low-income housing tax credits in his bargaining with the Republican majority in the Legislature concerning incentives to lure Boeing to build its 777X plant in Missouri. (That incentive package, at this point, did nothing but force Boeing workers in Seattle to agree to concessions with management.) Expect a detailed report on this historic meeting next week.

Jay and Roy

As for Nixon, the EYE has been viewing his last term with the expectation that he is eyeing the national stage, most likely as a conservative Midwestern Democrat who, as attorney general and governor, has no voting record to come back to haunt his running

mate. What about a different scenario? Another theory is that U.S. Senator Roy Blunt will cash in on his K Street connections and move over into the lobbying sector. Blunt is a savvy political animal and could make a ton of loot in a short time. If Blunt stepped down, Nixon would be a viable senatorial candidate. The weathervane on this career move is how far to the left, if any, Nixon tacks in his last term. If he stays center-right, then he thinks Blunt is going for the money and Nixon’s next campaign would be statewide, rather than national, for U.S. Senate.

Happy Birthday to me!

January 6 was a Monday –on most people’s calendars, that’s a business day. At 1:57 p.m. on that business day, Alderman Jeffrey Boyd used his taxpayer-funded city email account to e-blast an invitation to a large list of people. Boyd was inviting people to his birthday party. “In lieu of a

Damon Jones II, Jermaine Prince, Keion Butler, Deion Henderson, Jermaine Mitchell, Cameron Palmer, Dajavion Mitchell and Dennis Howell-Butler all answered state Rep. Michael Butler’s public calls for help in shoveling snow for North City seniors after the severe weekend storm. “I would love to work with any willing person to make this effort more permanent,” Butler said. “Let’s reorganize a Youth Work Corps in the City combining responsible youth and needy seniors.”

gift,” the alderman noted in the email, “please consider donating to my campaign. NEITHER IS REQUIRED.” The EYE is sure that this was not a criminal use of public resources to raise money for his personal campaign. BUT IT SURE WAS TACKY!

Bosley penalty pending

The Post-Dispatch reported that former Mayor Freeman Bosley Jr. will go before a panel to adjudicate his penalty for allegedly mishandling what the state claims to be about $6,250 in client funds, which Bosley admitted to in court last month. On Dec. 27, Bosley filed documents purporting to show that he had paid his debts, the Post reported, but the Missouri Supreme Court’s Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel was not buying it. Now both sides of the grievance will recommend a penalty to the three-member panel appointed by the office to adjudicate the case.

NEWSPAPER IN EDUCATION

Nutrition Challenge:

OCTOBER 19 - JANUARY 20

eye view of their world. bug’s

Harry’s

Harry’s Big Adventure: My Bug World! presented by Terminix® is a multisensory experience that immerses you into the world of bugs. Harry the Chinese Praying Mantis and his bug friends will lead you through freestanding and interactive habitats in a hands-on, fun way!

Harry’s Big Adventure: My Bug World! presented by Terminix® is a multisensory experience that immerses you into the world of bugs. Harry the Chinese Praying Mantis and his bug friends will lead you through freestanding and interactive habitats in a hands-on, fun way!

slsc.org/hbanie4

Healthy Kids Kids

This time of year many people make New Year’s resolutions. A resolution is simply a promise you make to yourself of ways that you would like to improve your life in the new year. So for 2014, why not make a resolution to eat healthier? Try adding a healthy new habit every few weeks or so. Here are a few ideas (from past Healthy Kids features) to get you started.

Another healthy change you can make for yourself with the new year is to be more active. Staying active not only helps keep your heart healthy, but it burns calories, improves your brain functioning and helps you feel better — the more you do!

Some reminders:

NewYear’sResolutions1. ofDrinkatleast8glasses wateraday. 2.Eatmorefreshfruitsand foodsvegetablesandlessfried andsweetsnacks. 3.soonEatslowlyandstopas asyoufeelfull.

> Try to have at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day that increases your heart rate (60 minutes is even better).

> Warm up, stretch and cool down before and after exercising.

The new year brings a fresh start. Plan on making 2014 your best year yet! Try letting go of the problems you may have faced last year and look forward to a new year with excitement and hope. Here are a few ways to stay positive.

> Make

>

What are some other tips you’ve learned?

Learning Standards: HPE 2, HPE 5, NH 1, NH 5

> Start off slowly and increase time, distance, and speed as you feel stronger.

> Check with your doctor before starting a brand new exercise program.

> Drink lots of water when you’re working out. Discuss some of the ways you can keep active during the cold winter months.

Learning Standards: HPE 1, HPE 2, HPE 5, NH 1, NH 5

Where do you work? I work at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis. Where did you go to school? I graduated from Riverview Gardens Senior High School. I also have an Associate of Applied Science from Florissant Valley and a Bachelor of Science, Nursing from UMSL. What does a registered nurse at Mercy do? I draw blood to obtain lab values, perform EKG’s (a test that checks the electrical activity of the heart), monitor heart rates and blood pressure and update medication lists.

Why did you choose this career? I’ve always loved science, lab experiments and human anatomy. In middle school and high school I always gravitated toward science when others were enjoying home economics or shop class.

What is your favorite part of the job you have? I find it rewarding to reduce the fear and stress levels that patients have when they arrive at our hospital.

Learning Standards: HPE 6, NH 3

Presented By

Presented By

CLASSROOM SPOTLIGHT

Mullanphy Investigative Learning Center 5th grade teacher

SCIENCE STARS

Hay

Claire Hay grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1976, she graduated from the Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration/ Marketing. Four years later she received a Certification of Accounting from St. Louis University’s Metropolitan College. Currently, she is an accountant with Ameren Missouri.

SCIENCE CORNER The Science of Sleep!

Claire Hay recommended getting a good night’s sleep. Have you ever wondered why? Sleep could be more valuable than you think. Did you know that sleep affects mood, energy, learning, and your ability to fight illness? According to the National Institute of Health, school aged children need 9-10 hours of sleep per night. Losing even one hour of sleep per night can have a negative impact on mood, concentration, cardiovascular health, energy, and more. According to the Mayo clinic, lack of sleep in growing kids can affect growth rate. The Cleveland Clinic states that lack of sleep can lead to learning disabilities. However, too much sleep can lead to depression, weight gain, and other health problems.

There is a lot of science linked to sleep. Did you know when you sleep your body produces proteins called cytokines that help fight infections? Simply getting a good night’s sleep makes your body stronger and helps you stay healthy. Your body also has a circadian rhythm, an internal alarm clock that tells your body when to go to sleep and when to wake up. Circadian rhythm is linked to light and dark to function properly, so make sure your room is dark and comfortable at

SCIENCE EXPERIMENT

Have you ever set your alarm clock, only to wake up moments before the alarm sounded? Your body has a built in clock that uses circadian rhythm to keep track of your sleep cycle. In this experiment, you will see if you are able to set your internal alarm clock to wake up on time. However, this experiment should be completed on a weekend or holiday, NOT on a school day.

Materials Needed:

Alarm Clock • Pen or Pencil • Paper

Process:

q Decide on a time you would like to wake up, such as 7 a.m.

MATH CONNECTION

Accountants have the important job of keeping a budget. You can practice being an accountant by taking care of your money. When you earn allowance or get money for your birthday or a holiday, keep track of your income (money earned) and expenses (money spent). You can also set goals for saving money, too.

Use your accounting skills to complete the following problems:

q If you receive $5/week for allowance, how much will you earn in 1 month? 6 months? 1 year? How long will it take you to save $100 dollars?

w If you saved 1/3 of your allowance, how much would you earn in 10 weeks?

DID YOU

KNOW?

•

•

bed time. Melatonin is a hormone produced in the body that controls our body’s internal clock. Melatonin is responsible for that sleepy sensation. Cell phones, tablets, laptops, and other electronics produce a light that counteracts our body’s melatonin making it difficult to fall asleep. It’s important to limit time spent on electronics before bedtime.

Tips for getting a good night’s sleep: Stick to a schedule. Go to bed at the same time each night. This will train your body to fall asleep at this time. Also, try getting up close to the same time each day, even on weekends. This also keeps your body trained and in sync to the schedule. Avoid caffeine and large meals before bedtime. Relax with a warm bath and a light snack, instead. Make sure the room is dark and quiet.

Reflect:

Why is a good night’s sleep important? How is science involved in sleep? What can you do to get a good night’s sleep? How much sleep should you get each day?

Learning Standards: I can read nonfiction text to find main idea and supporting details.

w Set your alarm clock for 7:30, or 30 minutes past your specified time. You need to give yourself some leeway.

e When you go to bed, tell yourself that you need to wake up at 7:00 a.m. (or your specified time). Go to sleep as usual.

t When you wake up, look at the time. Did you wake up before 7:00 a.m.? After 7:00 a.m.? How close to the time were you?

y Compare your results with your classmates.

Learning Standards: I can make predictions and follow a procedure to evaluate results. I can make observations based on the outcome of the experiment.

e You get $50 for your birthday. You spend $33 on a video game, and $12.99 on a CD. How much money do you have left?

r Using the scenario in #3, what percent of your birthday money was spent on the video game? What percent was spent on the CD? What percent was saved? Create a pie chart to represent this amount.

t You want to buy two tickets to a football game at $24.99 each. If you pay an additional 8% sales tax, what would be the total cost for the two tickets?

Learning Standards: I can add, subtract, multiply, and divide to solve a problem.

Nearly 1,400 of the FBI’s special agents are accountants. There are many famous people who have studied accounting, including:

•

The first Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam was given in 1896 in New York.

which means to count.

In a recent interview, Hay stated that she always had an interest in math and analyzing data. At first Hay worked in the Internal Audit department for Ameren, where she completed audits to make sure the company was sticking to their policies and budget. Currently, Hay works in the Plant Accounting Department. She is responsible for reviewing purchase orders, work orders, budgets, completing monthly journal vouchers of account reviews, and collecting, analyzing, and reporting information in response to the State Assessed Taxes for the state of Missouri.

Hay’s friend encouraged her to apply for this job. It appealed to Hay, a single mother, because it offered room for growth and promotion. She wanted to provide a good home and solid education to her son. Hay’s advice? “Sometimes your dreams may get deferred, but don’t ever give up. Have a plan ‘B’ and be prepared to change your course and deal with challenges that you may face.“ Hay uses her marketing degree to volunteer in the community in civic, political, and church activities. She is an advisor for Junior Achievement, a board member for Electro Credit Union and Northside Community Center, and also serves on her church’s Parish Pastoral Committee.

Hay has received awards for her services, including William T. Kemper Foundation Community Service, Gateway Classic Citizen of the Year, and 100 Black Men Volunteer of the Year. She has received recognition and honors from other groups, such as Commerce Bank, University of Missouri, Missouri Black Expo, Martin Luther King Celebration Committee, and the Mathews-Dickey Boys and Girls Club.

If you are inspired by Hay’s story, she recommends to network with someone in your field of interest. For example, if you want to be a veterinarian, find a way to volunteer and work with animals. Find a mentor to guide you and offer you advice and encouragement. Attend training sessions and seminars. And above all, Hay advises, “Study hard, commit yourself to being the best student you can be, make wise decisions, get plenty of rest, eat a balanced meal, and be selective who you interact with.”

Learning Standards: I can read a biography about a local citizen who made achievements in math, science, and technology.

MAP CORNER

Use the newspaper to complete the following activities to sharpen your skills for the MAP test.

Activity One — Division: Find a 3-digit and a 2-digit number in the newspaper. Divide the 3-digit number by the 2-digit number. Explain the steps used to divide properly.

442 ÷ 20 = ?

Activity Two — Decimals: Find money amounts in the newspaper that include cents, for example $10.29. Use those money amounts to practice adding and subtracting with decimals. Create problems to solve and trade them with your classmates.

Learning Standards: I can add, subtract, multiply, and divide to solve a problem. I can use the newspaper to locate information.

$4.42 + $3.19 = ?

AFRICAN AMERICAN ACCOUNTANT & VOLUNTEER: Claire

Teachers, if you are using the St. Louis American’s NIE program and would like to nominate your class for a Classroom Spotlight, please email: nie@stlamerican.com.

Patrick O’Conn o r does STEM work with students Lindsey Nguyen, Leola Poe, and Carlos Sharp. The school is in the St. Louis Public Schools district.

Photo: Wiley Price / St. Louis American

Bubble gum was invented in 1928 by Walter Dimer, an accountant.

The word accountant comes from the French word “compter,”

John Grisham, novelist

D-Lo Brown, WWF wrestler

Bob Newhart, comedian

Kenny G, Jazz musician

Janet Jackson, R&B musician

‘Caring and Sharing’ at Hodgen Elementary

Fourth Grade Students at Hodgen Elementary College Bound Academy are learning how to give back. For the past few years, students have participated in what they call the Caring and Sharing Project. This is a project where students find creative ways to raise money and then give the money to families at Hodgen who are going through a difficult time. This year, students learned how to run a business by running a mini-store, selling school supplies, chips and candy. They also wrote business letters to people asking for donations. These activities helped them to raise $500. With this money, they were able to help five families in the school, with a gift card of $100 each.

Activist recognized as ‘Young Visionary’

Rasheen Aldridge has helped to organize fast food workers

American staff

Rasheen Aldridge has been selected as the recipient of the 2013 Jamala Rogers Young Visionary Award. Aldridge is native St. Louisan and graduate of Parkway West High School.

As a fast food worker, he quickly became involved in the STL735 campaign that has been fighting for a livable

wage and the right to organize a union without retaliation. He has helped to organize other fast food workers in their demand for $15 an hour and better working conditions from an industry that makes billions annually.

With the $2,000 scholarship, Rasheen will resume his studies at St. Louis Community College – Forest Park next semester.

Rasheen says he’s been truly inspired by the numbers of African Americans standing up for better jobs and fair wages.

“When I stand up and speak out, it’s not just for me,” he says. “I’m standing with the next African American who’s trying to make a change in the world.”

The Jamala Rogers Young Visionary Award recognizes

young adults who are working for social justice and making a difference in their community. The annual award is named after Jamala Rogers, a respected community leader and St. Louis American columnist, who has inspired thousands of young people to use their time, talents and skills to uplift their communities in meaningful ways. Information about the scholarship is available at www.positiveyouthdev. org. Contributions are taxdeductible and can be made at the website or mailed to P.O. Box 5277, St. Louis, MO 63115. For more information about the Jamala Rogers Young Visionary Award, contact Azizi Blissett at 314-367-5959.

This exhibit, which builds on the 2012 exhibit,* illustrates the St. Louis Jewish community’s response to discrimination of all types.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2014 1:00 PM featuring reflections from Missouri’s first African-American congressman,

Exhibition Opening and Reception the Honorable William L. Clay, Sr., introduced by Barbara Newmark.

*Standing for Justice: 1930-1950 will also be on view in the HMLC theater

Rasheen Aldridge is the recipient of 2013 Jamala Rogers Young Visionary Award

Business

East-West Gateway honors Greendale mayor

Monica Huddleston humbled by Outstanding Local Government award

By Bridjes O’Neil

Of The St. Louis American

Monica Huddleston, mayor of Greendale, received the 2013 Outstanding Local Government Achievement Award from East-West Gateway Council of Governments for her commitment to the betterment of the St. Louis region.

“I never feel like awards are necessary because you do what you do as a public service,” she said.

East-West Gateway is a regional organization that covers 18 counties and 200 municipalities in Illinois and Missouri. It provides regional planning and development guidance and facilitation.

Huddleston has served on

numerous East-West Gateway committees, most recently its Public Involvement Planning Committee. After 25 years with Southwestern Bell and three years into her retirement, Huddleston became the first female and first African-American mayor of Greendale. The small municipality of Greendale, with its 651 residents, is one of 24 that fall within the Normandy School District in North St. Louis County. She is currently serving her second term in office. During her tenure, Huddleston has overseen $600,000 in city capital

improvements.

Huddleston serves as treasurer of the Great Rivers Greenway and the St. Louis County Municipal League Board of Directors. She also serves as legislative chair of the Suburban Mayors of St. Louis County that represents mayors of cities with populations under 10, 000, among a long list of civic affiliations.

Not too far from the University of Missouri-St. Louis sits Cool Valley, another 24:1 municipality ran by an AfricanAmerican woman, Mayor Viola Murphy. Huddleston

and Murphy have known each other for several years and have collaborated on several projects as participants of Beyond Housing’s 24:1 Local Municipal Partnerships, comprised of elected officials of the 24 municipalities.

“The people of Greendale are lucky to have such a dedicated person,” Murphy said of Huddleston. “You couldn’t get a better mayor.”

Huddleston is particularly dedicated to students in the Normandy School District, its accreditation status, school transfers and the possibility of a bankrupt district. She and other 24:1 mayors recently met with state Commissioner

Awards recognize diversity and inclusion in construction

By Rebecca Rivas

American

Of the St. Louis

St. Louis Council of Construction Consumers (SLCCC) recognized companies that promote diversity and inclusion in the construction industry during its annual awards on December 19 at the Doubletree Hotel St. Louis at Westport. Pangea Group, a minority business enterprise (MBE), received a Diversity Inclusion Organizational Excellence Award for their leadership in putting to work minorities and women to work in construction. Mike Zambrana, president and CEO, founded the local engineering, environmental and construction company in 1994. He has been involved with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan St. Louis for 30 years, building on a legacy left by his father, the late Luis G. Zambrana, a native of Bolivia and a founder of the organization.

n Pangea Group, a minority business enterprise (MBE), received a Diversity Inclusion Organizational Excellence Award for their leadership in putting to work minorities and women to work in construction.

SLCCC president

Dennis Lavallee said Pangea builds long-term relationships with minority- and women-owned enterprises (MWBEs).

“Strategies that they have used include seeking minority status or HUB Zone residency as a priority in union requests for craft labor, working with the St. Louis Agency

on Training and Employment to enroll minorities in On the Job Training, and providing the training,” he said.

Among Pangea’s notable successes has been work on the Lemay Waste Water Treatment Plant for the Metropolitan Sewer District, he said. Of the eight subcontractors on the project, three are MBEs and two are WBEs for a total contract participation of 63 percent with the project on schedule and on budget.

E. M. Harris Construction also received a Diversity

See AWARDS, B6

Angela Clabon has been hired as the new chief executive oficer of Myrtle Hilliard Davis Comprehensive Health Centers, Inc., a Federally Qualiied Health Center. A healthcare executive with more than 30 years of experience, she has served as chief inancial oficer of Myrtle Hilliard Comprehensive Health Centers, Inc., since 2005, and was appointed interim inancial CEO/CFO in 2013, after the passing of the former CEO.

Travis Brown was recognized recently for his extensive efforts of outreach and education to raise awareness of concussions and the Brain Injury Association of Missouri. Brown, the director of athletics for St. Louis Public Schools, was honored with the “Service Excellence Award – Public Relations.” He is a former principal of Beaumont High School and has 15 years of coaching experience with St. Louis Public Schools.

Beverly Wells recently joined Saint Louis Crisis Nursery as a family empowerment counselor. She provides quality care to the families and children in the St. Louis area. She transitioned from St. Louis County Children’s Division, where she worked as a child welfare specialist. She has dedicated the last 15 years of her professional career to strengthening and empowering families to help reduce and prevent abuse and neglect to children.

Bayard Rustin recently received the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously from President Barack Obama. It is the nation’s highest civilian honor. An advisor to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rustin promoted nonviolent resistance, participated in one of the irst Freedom Rides, organized the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and fought tirelessly for marginalized communities at home and abroad.

Business Briefs

Construction Forum St. Louis kicks off

More than 350 construction industry professionals gathered at the Missouri Botanical Garden recently for the kick-off of Construction Forum St. Louis, a new nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the issues facing the St. Louis construction industry. It was established to help construction industry professionals network across industry lines, according to co-founder Tom Finan, publisher of St. Louis Construction News & Review. At the core of the organization is the new website www. constructforstl.org.

Attendees at the kick-off event learned about plans to develop as much as 3.5 million square feet of space at the former Chrysler plant in Fenton over the next five to 10 years. KP Development expects to complete acquisition of the former Chrysler plant site by next summer and begin construction within the following six months.

Kander issues alert regarding Corporate Records solicitation

Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander has alerted Missouri business owners about deceptive letters from Corporate Records Service, a Michiganbased entity

the corporations division of the secretary of state’s office. Business owners are not required to file annual minutes with Kander’s office, and are not required to pay fees to companies like Corporate Records Service to comply with Missouri law. Individuals who receive the deceptive mailer are encouraged to report their experience to Kander’s office by calling 1-866-223-6535.

Angela Clabon

Travis Brown

Beverly Wells

Bayard Rustin

Monica Huddleston, mayor of Greendale

Finus Smith, owner of La Rose Room Restaurant at 2723 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, tried to clear the foot of snow in front of his business Tuesday afternoon. Some of the city’s largest employers were closed on Monday due to the heavy snow and negative-degree weather, including World Wide Technology, Monsanto and Energizer Holdings. Many small restaurant owners did their best to keep their doors open and tend to patrons getting cabin fever.

Businesses recover from storm

Photo by Wiley Price

See MAYOR, B6

By Jason Alderman

Each year, auto insurance companies declare millions of vehicles to be “totaled,” meaning it’s not worth the cost to repair them. It doesn’t matter whether the car was damaged in a collision, during a flood or after a thief’s joyride went bad. It’s hard to argue with such an assessment if your car was wrapped around a telephone pole or the gas tank exploded. But what if the damage was more cosmetic, such as major dents on the roof and hood from a hailstorm?

A vehicle is considered a total loss if the insurance company determines that the total cost to repair your car to pre-accident condition, plus

What if your car gets totaled?

fees for storage, salvage and a replacement rental car (if included in your policy), is more than a certain percentage of car’s retail value. Insurers set their own allowable percentage, within statemandated guidelines (typically around 60 to 75 percent), and use their own formulas to determine a car’s value and estimated repair costs.

Thus, if your $4,500-valued 2002 Honda Civic sustains $1,800 worth of damage – moderate bodywork and repainting these days – it might be deemed totaled, even though the engine still runs fine. On the other hand, a latemodel Mercedes could sustain far greater damage and still be considered salvageable. What’s worse, if the

Personal Finance

accident was your fault, or you must otherwise tap your own insurance (e.g., it was caused by an uninsured driver), you would only receive that $4,500 minus your deductible. Good luck finding a comparable car for that amount.

Other big losers when a car is totaled are people still paying off their auto loan. Since the lender technically owns the car, they’ll get first crack at any insurance payment; and you’ll still be responsible for paying off the loan balance.

As a preventative measure, you may want to purchase gap insurance if you owe more

than the car’s retail value – or if you rolled past debt into the new car loan. It will pay the outstanding loan balance if your car is totaled or stolen. Most insurers will let you add gap insurance at any time. Here are a few additional points you should know about when and why a car is declared totaled, and precautions you can take ahead of time to lessen the impact:

• Make sure the insurance appraisal includes the value of all extra features and aftermarket accessories, like heated seats, custom wheels or an upgraded audio system.

• Be prepared to show documentation of any major repairs or upgrades you made that might boost the car’s value – say you recently replaced the engine or bought new tires.

• Do your own research. Use independent pricing sites like Kelly Blue Book or Edmunds to determine your car’s worth, factoring in its mileage, added features and overall condition before the accident.

• If your estimate is far off from the proposed settlement, ask whether your policy includes the right to hire your own appraiser for a second opinion. Most states have a procedure for settling such disputes. Understand, however, that no matter the arbitration outcome, you’ll still have to pay your appraiser, and likely, a portion of arbitration costs.

• Make sure the insurer’s totaled car value includes estimated sales tax to replace the car, as well as registration and title costs, since you wouldn’t have incurred these costs if you didn’t need to replace the car. Let’s hope your car is never totaled, but it pays to know in advance what to do if it is.

Makers, takers and unemployment benefits

By Eugene Robinson Washington Post

To 1.3 million jobless

Americans: The Republican Party wishes you a Very Unhappy New Year!

It would be one thing if there were a logical reason to cut off unemployment benefits for those who have been out of work the longest.

But no such rationale exists. On both economic and moral grounds, extending benefits for the long-term unemployed should have been an automatic bipartisan vote in both houses of Congress. It wasn’t. Nothing is automatic and bipartisan anymore, not with today’s radicalized GOP on the scene.

In this case, a sensible and humane policy option is hostage to bruised Republican egos and the ideological myth of “makers” versus “takers.”

The result is a cruel blow

to families that are already suffering. Benefits were allowed to expire for 1.3 million people who have been unemployed more than six months. These are precisely the jobless who will suffer most from a cutoff, since they have been scraping by on unemployment checks for so long that their financial situations are already precarious, if not dire. Extending unemployment benefits is something that’s normally done in a recession, and Republicans correctly point out that we are now in a recovery. But there was nothing normal about the Great Recession, and there is nothing normal about the Not-So-Great Recovery.

We are emerging from the worst economic slump since the Depression, and growth has been unusually – and painfully – slow. Only in the past few months has the economy shown

real signs of life. Job growth is improving but still sluggish, with unemployment hovering at 7 percent, not counting the millions of Americans who have given up looking for work.

An extension of long-term unemployment benefits should have been part of the budget deal between U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., but wasn’t. Democrats tried to offer an amendment that would extend the benefits for three months, and they identified savings elsewhere in the budget to pay for it. But House Speaker John Boehner refused to allow a vote on the proposal. In terms of economic policy, this makes no sense. The nonpartisan Congressional

Budget Office estimated that extending long-term unemployment for a full year would cost about $25 billion, which would add to the deficit. But the measure would boost economic growth by two-tenths of 1 percent and create 200,000 jobs. Given that interest rates are at historical lows, and given that the imperative right now is to create growth and jobs, refusing to extend the benefits is counterproductive as well as cruel.

Sadly, cruelty is the point.

The Republican far right perceived the budget deal as a political defeat – even though it caps spending for social programs at levels that many Democrats consider appallingly low – because it does not slash Medicare and Social Security. For some in the GOP, accepting an unemployment extension would have been too much to swallow, simply because it was favored by Democrats.

For some other Republicans, unemployment isn’t really about spending, growth, deficits or even politics. They see it as a moral issue.

To this way of thinking, extended benefits coddle the unemployed and encourage them to loll around the house, presumably eating bonbons,

n For some other Republicans, unemployment isn’t really about spending, growth, deficits or even politics. They see it as a moral issue.

rather than pound the streets for any crumbs of work they can find, however meager.

This view is consistent with the philosophy that Mitt Romney privately espoused during his failed presidential campaign. It sees a growing number of Americans as parasitic “takers” who luxuriate in their dependence

on government benefits – 47 percent was the figure Romney came up with. The “makers” who create the nation’s wealth are not really helping the down-and-out by giving them financial support to make it through tough times, this philosophy holds. Much better medicine would be a kick in the pants.

I wonder if these Ayn Rand ideologues have ever actually met a breadwinner who has gone without a job for more than six months. I wonder if they know that some jobless men and women don’t have well-to-do parents or even a trust fund to fall back on. I wonder if they understand that unemployment benefits don’t even cover basic expenses, much less bonbons.

The Republican establishment doesn’t want this to be a campaign issue for Democrats, so it’s quite likely that the benefits will eventually be extended. Until then, more than a million households are being made to suffer privation and anxiety – for no good reason at all.

Eugene Robinson

n “I’ve gone from a boy to a man here. I feel like it’s time for me to go on to the next level.”

– Mizzou defensive end

Kony Ealy, who declared for the NFL Draft after the Cotton Bowl

Sports

PreP BasketBall NoteBook

With Earl Austin Jr.

Incarnate’s the Word

Red Knights defeat thirdranked team in country, win two tourney titles

It was a very productive week for some of the area’s top girls basketball programs. Incarnate Word Academy, Miller Career Academy and MICDS came home with tournament championships.

Incarnate Word followed up on its Visitation Holiday Tournament title by heading South to win the Naples Holiday Classic in Florida. The Red Knights defeated Blackman High of Murfreesboro (TN) 53-44 in the championship game. Blackman was ranked No. 3 in the country. Senior guard Nakiah Bell led the Red Knights with 20 points while 6’3” senior McKenna Treece added 17 points. Junior standout Napheesa Collier had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Collier and Treece were selected to the AllTournament Team while Treece was voted the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament. Miller Career Academy won the championship of the Pink and White Lady Classic in Springfield, Mo. last week. The Phoenix defeated Nixa 56-40 in the championship game. Senior standouts Braennan Farrar and Zhanesa Dickerson scored 20 points each to lead the Phoenix in the championship game.

n Senior guard Nakiah Bell led the Red Knights with 20 points.

Career Academy enters the 2014 portion of the season with an 8-1 record, with their only loss coming to Illinois state power Quincy Notre Dame on the road. Farrar is averaging 18.6 points and 6.8 assists a game while the 5’9” Dickerson is averaging 15.3 points and 8.6 rebounds. Senior guard Tiani Walls is averaging eight points a game while 6’1” sophomore Alfreda Roberts leads the team in rebounding.

MICDS won the championship of its own holiday tournament with a 59-42 victory over Metro League rival Westminster Christian. The Rams rode their outstanding backcourt trio of senior Emily Kyman, junior Maya Howard and sophomore Rachel Thompson to the victory. Kyman scored 19 points to lead MICDS while Howard scored 17 and Thompson added 16 points. The Rams are an entertaining team that

Ishmael H. Sistrunk

Many NBA fans wrote off the Chicago Bulls as contenders the moment Derrick Rose crumpled to the floor with his second consecutive season-ending injury. Now it seems the organization finally decided to follow suit after the team traded two-time AllStar Luol Deng to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Andrew Bynum and three future draft picks. The deal came almost two weeks after the Cavs banished Bynum into an indefinite suspension for conduct “detrimental to the team.” That could describe his poor

One of the great hiring shams in sports

~ See

n Andrew Bynum’s selfish behavior became a distraction to the Cavs team. rams rouNduP

With Palmer Alexander

moves the ball, shoots a lot of 3-pointers and plays a fast tempo game. They are currently 9-1 with their only loss coming to Incarnate Word in a very competitive game.

play this season with meager Kwame Brown-esque averages of 8.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. However according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, Bynum’s selfish behavior became a distraction to the Cavs team, and the former All-Star allegedly doesn’t have the desire to play basketball anymore.

• Hazelwood Central won the championship of the Meramec Holiday Tournament with back to back victories over Kirkwood and

See PREP, B5

Rams need to improve offense in off-season

More scoring required to make playoffs next season

n Whether you like or not Sam Bradford numbers were better than he was given credit for.

The first weekend of January has past us by with a thrilling Missouri Tigers win 41-31 over the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Then we get hit with a snow storm that lasted about as long as that four-hour football game. But, sandwiched between those two events: The first Sunday with no St. Louis Rams football for at least eight more months. It has been a recurring theme with this franchise and has been well chronicled. The Rams were bystanders again for a number of reasons. This week my focus is solely on the offense. In 2013 the Rams did improve, and whether you like or not Sam Bradford numbers were better than he was given credit for. Last year the Rams offense averaged 18.7 a game leaving them ranked 25th. In this past season, the Rams improved in that area scoring 21.8 points a contest. In 2012 Sam Bradford threw for 3,702 yards, and when you look at where he was going this year it’s impressive. After Bradford’s season-ending injury, he accumulated 14 touchdowns and 4 interceptions 1,687 yards. Even backup Kellen Clemens enjoyed one of his finest career years with one more touchdown (8) than interceptions (7). However, the Rams still need to get much better on offense to be legit playoff contenders. So it’s only natural once the season ends and coaches and coordinators are fired from other teams, fans and media alike ponder the possibility of maybe a change on the Rams coaching staff. But, if anyone out there thinking that the Rams may cut loose Brian Schottenheimer, don’t hold your breath. And for anyone else that thinks that the Rams can just sift through the Black Monday NFL coaching firing carousel and find an

See RAMS, B4

waive white flag; Cavs coup Luol Deng See CLUTCH, B5 IN the ClutCh

Bulls fans don’t have to worry about Bynum’s lackadaisical attitude infecting their team, as Bynum was essen-

tially cut before he boarded the plane to Chi-town. For the Chicago brass, the move represents a tank job. After Deng turned down a three-year $30 million contract extension, the team decided to ship away its best player on two legs in hopes of saving money and increasing its chances in the draft lottery. The bad news for GM John Paxson is that even without Deng and the injured Derrick Rose, the Bulls could still claw their way into the playoffs in the terrible Eastern Conference. So don’t be surprised to see Chicago amnesty Carlos Boozer if the players don’t take the hint to start losing. Either that or head coach Tom Thibideau,

Palmer L. Alexander

Photo by Wiley Price

Earl Austin Jr.

who

Could new Cavaliers forward Luol Deng help lure one of the Big 3 away from Miami this offseason?

Cardinal Ritter’s Melvin Hagens (41) gets his shot blocked by CBC’s Sam Orf (12) during Saturday’s Basketball Classic hosted by Cardinal Ritter.

Claib’s Call

With Mike Claiborne

One of the great hiring shams of sports

Now that the football season is winding down, it is time for the annual season that sees coaches getting fired and new interviews taking place. With this annual process comes the discussion of: Do black coaches get their just due when it comes to the interview process?

College football does it differently than the NFL, as there is no “Rooney Rule” where NFL teams are required to interview minority candidates in their search for a new coach. The college game is made up of a few search firms who are well tied to the coaching agents. They look at where the candidates have coached before and their recruiting records. Then comes the family. Not if the coaches are married but who they are married to. Yes, there have been coaches that have been overlooked because of that fact. In some parts, a black coach who marries out of his race is frowned upon. And while some coaches have spoken on the subject, there seems to be a potential changing of the unwritten policy.

It was not that long ago

Stanford’s David Shaw should rank high on the list of many college and NFL football teams looking for a coach.

when former University of Kansas coach Turner Gill along with new Texas coach Charlie Strong, were at the

center of an embarrassing firestorm that saw them overlooked for jobs only to be told off the record or through

third party that their marriages would not go over well in the eyes of alums and boosters who write the checks to support the

program. Both made mention of it, and over time were eventually hired at Kansas and Louisville. Gill was fired early in his tenure at Kansas when the results were not as positive as the school had hoped for.

The university took a bigger step back in hiring Charlie Weiss who has made a living of blaming the guy he replaced on why he cannot get the job done. (also see Ty Willingham at Notre Dame) As for Strong, he put Louisville on the map on a national level in three years.

Strong was so good, Texas could have cared less what color his wife was.

There are other coaches on the college level who have the sledding tough to even get a quality interview, as the NCAA has yet to mandate a process to give minorities a better opportunity. The other issue at hand is stereotyping when it comes to coaches on the college level. They are viewed as recruiters more than coaches and play

n The league has tried to talk up a few minority coaches on the college level as legitimate candidates, but only time will tell if they stay in college and not become part of one of the great hiring shams in sports.

callers. This has been a long standing issue that black coaches seemed to be mired in with no relief in sight. When it comes to the NFL, the term “here we go again” should be in play. While Lovie Smith was quickly hired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, one could have made the argument that he should have never had to sit out a year after being fired in Chicago. So what next for the NFL as Detroit, Cleveland, Tennessee, Minnesota are all looking? Whenever you hear a minority being interviewed first, just mark it up as a team satisfying the Rooney Rule requirement so they can get back to business of looking for their real guy. Sad but true. The league has tried to talk up a few minority coaches on the college level as legitimate candidates, but only time will tell if they stay in college and not become part of one of the great hiring shams in sports. Stanford’s David Shaw and Vanderbilt James Franklin have emerged as two minority coaches that are on the fast track. The question is: will it be the NFL or a college program that they have a chance to win in? In the NFL, many owners have shied away from giving coaches mega millions and total control only to see themselves going through another interview process three to four years later. They settled on coordinators who were glad to be a head coach and would work for less. If you start with the Scott Linehan and Steve Spagnulo failures in St. Louis, many teams have made this costly mistake.

The college game has no problem paying Nick Saban $5 million or more. College football is turning out millionaire coaches at a good pace. It’s easier to get back in line on the college scene than in the NFL if you are minority compared to their white counterparts. All will be good with the coaching world in football by the end of the Super Bowl. If you decide to track this process, count the names of minorities who get interviewed and see how many get hired. Surely they cannot all be that bad in the interview.

Mike Claiborne

Hazelwood Central wins Meramec title

The Hazelwood Central boys basketball team won the championship of the Meramec Holiday Tournament for the second consecutive season. The Hawks defeated Webster Groves 57-51 in the championship game. The members of the team are (in alphabetical order): Demarco Buchanan, Juwan Carey, Jordan Croft, Ranell Crossland, Dominique Dobbs, Marcus George, Mike Glass, Quaron Gooch, Steve Holloway, Jontae Huntspon, Xavier Sneed, Eddie White, Clifton Yancy, The head coach is Josh Martin.

RAMS

Continued from B3 offensive coordinator, well sorry my friends that’s not going to happen either. If and only if the Rams were really interested in making a personnel move in that area, it wouldn’t be an offensive coordinator on a playoff team. Why?

Because, those guys are normally the next in line to get a head coaching job. Now who would I be interested in if the Rams were looking to make change? I would take a peek at Frank Reich. Yes the same Frank Reich that was Jim Kelly backup for the Buffalo Bills in the early 1990’s. He’s now Phillip Rivers quarterback coach in San Diego. Joe Lombardi he’s also the

PREP

Continued from B3 Webster Groves. It was the Hawks’ second tournament championship of the season. Hazelwood Central defeated Ladue to win the Vianney Tournament earlier this season. The Hawks showed great balance as their was a different leading scorer in the last three victories. In the Hawks’ 73-63 overtime victory over Jennings, sophomores Xavier Sneed and Dominique Dobbs scored 19 and 16 points, respectively. In the semifinals against Kirkwood, seniors Demarco Buchanan (18) and Eddie White (11) led the team. In the championship game, senior Clifton Yancy scored 13 points in Central’s 57-51 victory over Webster Groves.

quarterbacks coach in New Orleans and has been in that organization for the last seven seasons. Then Ben McAdoo of the Green Bay Packers another QB coach who works with one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL Aaron Rodgers. The path from QB coach to OC is very common. Mike Martz was a QB coach in Washington before becoming the architect of the Greatest Show on Turf here in St. Louis. We all remember those days. Ironic as that is Brian Schottenheimer was the QB coach with the San Diego Chargers from 2002-2005 before getting the job as the OC with the New York Jets from 2006-2011. He’s been interviewed for head coaching jobs. And after two seasons in St. Louis, he has sometimes looked like an exceptional play caller. Then he has moments when

• The Highland Optimist Shootout will be held on Saturday at Highland High School. The feature game of the event will be a showdown between CBC and Springfield Lanphier. CBC continues its national schedule against a team led by outstanding guards Larry Austin, Jr. and Xavier Bishop. Tip off is at 7 p.m. The other four games are: Highland vs. Glenwood (girls), noon, Wesclin vs. Mater Dei, 1:45 p.m.; Chatham-Glenwood vs. Fort Zumwalt North, 3:30 p.m., Highland vs. Jerseyville, 5:15 p.m. Tickets are on sale for $5 for students and $8 for adults.

• Francis Howell Central won the championship of the Hillsboro Tournament last week. The Spartans defeated Seckman 56-43 in the championship game. Howell Central has been led by senior

the Rams are forced to pass the ball, or can’t establish the run, and he has nothing to offer.

The Rams offense is a part of the Don Coryell famous coaching tree, which includes coaches previously mentioned Mike Martz and Norv Turner. But, that’s all the past now. The Rams need more help on offense and it starts with the guy drawing up the plays.

Will this be Schottenheimer’s break out year? This will be his eighth year as a coordinator. As good as the Rams defense is, an average offense means 7-9 or 8-8 and no playoffs. Going forward, should the Rams offense crawl and miss the playoffs, then it would be time to move in a different direction.

For more Rams Roundup subscribe at our page www. youtube.com/stlamericanvideo.

guard Tre Curry, who is averaging 18.5 points a game. He is one of the top performers in the Gateway Athletic Conference.

• Here is one more reminder for the Coaches vs. Cancer Shootout, which will be held today at the Scottrade Center. The eight game event will begin at 9:30 p.m. and will run all day with teams from five different states. The schedule is: Duchesne vs. Alton Marquette, 9:30 a.m.; Washington vs. Holt, 11 a.m.; Columbia Rock Bridge vs. Columbus North (IN), girls, 12:30 p.m.; Cahokia vs. Columbia Hickman, 2 p.m.; Alton vs. Quincy (Ill), 3:30 p.m.; Incarnate Word vs. Regis Jesuit (CO), 5 p.m.; Fort Zumwalt North vs. Althoff, 6:30 p.m.; CBC vs. Louisville Ballard, 8 p.m.

CLUTCH

Continued from B3

was none-too-pleased with the trade, will be sent to the unemployment line to ensure the Bulls officially have a shot at landing atop what’s expected to be one of the deepest drafts in recent memory. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers hope to play in the postseason for the first time since LeBron James took his talents to South Beach to start a new trophy collection. It’s no secret Cavs owner Dan Gilbert was burned by James’ decision to bolt and is dying to get back to the playoffs. Despite the fact that the Cavs record sat at a lackluster 11-23 at the time of the

trade, the team was only three games out of the eighth playoff position in the atrocious East. Though Deng was overshadowed in Chicago by Rose’s ever-looming return, he should get the proper big dog treatment in star-starved Cleveland alongside Kyrie Irving. Deng is a talented player who can score, defend and distribute at an elite level. If he can get the Cavaliers back into the playoffs, he’ll surely get the key to the city and will become a key recruiter in bringing better free agents to town.

There have long been rumors that King James might consider returning to Cleveland following his fun run in Miami. It’s also no secret that James, Dwayne

St. LouiS AmericAn

Wade and Chris Bosh could all become free agents this off-season. While it’s certainly a longshot to bring James back, Cleveland would appear to be a much more enticing destination with Irving, Deng and Anderson Varejao. If James gives his old team the cold shoulder, maybe Angry Snyder will reappear and the owner will make a serious run at Bosh. Who knows? One thing is clear however, the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers are headed in opposite directions. Looks like Cavs fans can finally exchange their lottery tickets for playoff tickets. Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @ IshmaelSistrunk and on Google+

Prep Athletes of the Week

Braennan Farrar

Miller Career Academy – Girls Basketball

The 5’6” senior point guard led the Phoenix to the championship of the Pink and White Lady Classic in Springfield, Mo. last week. Farrar had 20 points, four rebounds and six assists in Career Academy’s 56-40 victory over Nixa in the championship game. She averaged 19 points and five assists a game in her team’s three victories during the tournament. Farrar also added 22 points, four rebounds and five såteals in Miller’s 56-48 loss to Illinois state powerhouse Quincy Notre Dame last week. For the season, Farrar is averaging 18.5 points, six assists and two steals a game in leading the Phoenix to an 8-1 record.

Cornell Johnston

Ladue – Basketball

The 5’7” senior guard led the Rams to the championship of the MICDS Tournament last week. Johnston had 14 points, 10 assists and six steals to lead Ladue to a 60-57 victory over Duchesne in the championship game.

In Ladue’s four victories at MICDS, Johnston averaged 14 points, 8.7 assists and 3.9 steals a game. He had 20 points, 11 assists and three steals in Ladue’s 62-50 victory over Whitfield in the quarterfinals. For the season, Johnston is averaging 16.9 points, 7.2 assists and 2.8 steals while averaging 39 percent from 3-point range. Ladue is currently 8-1 this season.

Greendale Mayor Monica Huddleston received an “Outstanding Local Government Achievement Award” from the East-West Gateway Council of Governments as part of its annual award ceremony in November.

St. Louis City Mayor Francis G. Slay and James Buford congratulate her.

MAYOR

Continued from B1

of Education Chris Nicastro, voicing their discontent with how the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is handling these issues and advocating for the district’s survival.

Huddleston helped to establish the Passport to Health, or P2H, a program that promotes healthier lifestyles by offering free exercise classes and nutritional education workshops for anyone in the 24:1 area.

She keeps 24:1 elected officials abreast about state legislature activities

AWARDS

Continued from B1 Inclusion Organizational Excellence Award. Among E. M. Harris initiatives, the company separates large contracts into smaller contracts more suitable for smaller MWBE firms’ capacity. Lavalee said the company provides advanc-

with regards to small cities, particularly in St. Louis County. And she speaks on behalf of 24:1 at Joint Committee on Local Governance hearings on the virtues of small government.

“We know our residents,” Huddleston said. “We know our needs and we deal with them quickly and efficiently – much more so than a huge government would do.” But, she said, there are others in government who would disagree. She spoke of a study commissioned by the Joint Committee on Local Governance to gauge the necessity of having large numbers of small municipalities. A consortium of Washington University,

es to support MWBE payroll while waiting for monthly draws, mentors firms to develop traditional banking relationships, and trains MWBE firms on government and certified payroll requirements. “E. M. Harris success with achieving MWBE participation was demonstrated with construction of the 39 unit Elliot School apartments which included renovation of 20

Webster University and Saint Louis University professors will conduct a study and present their findings to the legislature.

“There are those who feel many of our smaller municipalities should cease to exist – that we should merge with larger municipalities,” Huddleston said. “Many of the smaller municipalities are predominantly AfricanAmerican and are led by African-American mayors, so there is much at stake. There are some very talented, professional and capable people running these cities. We know what we’re doing, and if folks quit messing with us, we’d be just fine.”

historic buildings,” he said. “MWBE firms were awarded 67 percent of the total contract amount.”

Another project was the 40-unit Dick Gregory apartments, off of Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, which included renovation of 15 historic buildings and construction of two new buildings. MWBE firms were awarded 66 percent of the total contract

National labor leader speaks on workforce and disability

By Rebecca Rivas Of the St. Louis American

U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor Kathleen Martinez comes from a large family of Latino and Native American heritage.

When she was eight months old, her parents learned she would never be able to see.

“Fortunately, I was mainstreamed in the public school system from kindergarten through high school,” Martinez said in a 2010 White House interview. “This experience made me realize early on that I would have to develop different strategies.”

Now she develops strategies for people all across the country – and particularly employment strategies.

Recently, Martinez spoke about “Strengthening Your Workforce: the Disability Advantage,” as part of the Max Starkloff Speaker Series held at the Centene auditorium in Clayton.

The Max Starkloff Speaker Series engages the entire community, broadens viewpoints and sparks discussion on important topics surrounding disability – just as the late Starkloff did.

In 2012, the unemployment rate for people with a disability was about 13 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

amount.

The council also presented the Diversity Inclusion Champion awards Gwen Crimm of the Construction Careers Center, Joyce Morgan of S. M. Wilson and Ron Unterreiner of Rhodey Construction.

Gwen Crimm has served as placement coordinator for the AGC Construction Careers Center Charter High

However, the unemployment rates in 2012 for those with a disability were higher among blacks (20.8 percent) and Hispanics (19.0 percent) than among whites (12.3 percent) and Asians (11.8 percent).

In urban areas, gunshot injuries constitute the second most common cause of disability after car crashes, according to a Harvard study.

Among blacks and Latinos, gun violence is the primary cause of disability.

Martinez answered a number of questions regarding the federal government’s new Final Rule that makes changes to Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Starting on March 24, the government will require federal contractors to implement disability-oriented affirmative action plans.

“Ms. Martinez’ visit helps local employers understand this new ruling, how it applies to them and how the full inclusion of qualified workers with disabilities strengthens their entire workforce,” said Colleen Starkloff, co-director of the Starkloff Disability Institute.

A number of companies attended the session to find out about the federal changes.

“Workers with disabilities are a vast untapped pool of talent that hiring managers are just now discovering,” said David Newburger, co-director of the Starkloff Disability

School since 2005. Lavallee said she has implemented mentoring programs, coordinated summer internships and job shadowing days, coordinated with PRIDE on a pre-apprenticeship program to prepare students on the Interstate 64 Highway project, and developed relationships with apprentice coordinators, contractors, colleges and construction owners.

Institute and commissioner on the disabled for the City of St. Louis. “The companies attending this event, especially our host Centene, are ahead of the curve in disability employment.”

Martinez spent a portion of the presentation touching on the newest issue of non-visible disability.

“Often times a person has a disability that is not obvious. They do not tell their employer,” Martinez said. “But when you keep it a secret, it is like living in the shadows. It is so much easier to bring your whole self to work.”

Martinez was nominated by President Barack Obama and has been serving as head of U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) since 2009. As head of ODEP, Martinez advises the secretary of labor and other DOL departments on disability-related employment issues.

“Through my work, both nationally and internationally, I have seen people turn adversity into opportunity,” Martinez said. “Good jobs for people with disabilities serve as the gateway out of the poverty trap allowing us to contribute to the economy and strengthen our nation.”

Her success can be measured by the placements of the school’s graduates,” he said.

“Of 430 graduates since 2005, 95 percent are either employed, continuing their education or have joined the military.” Best practices in the construction industry were also recognized by the council during the annual awards.

Afro-Latina like me

Gitana presents play on mixed heritage at History Museum

means to be Afro-Latino in the United States, re-opens at 8 p.m. Friday, January 17 at the Missouri History Museum.

Soy Yo! (I Am Me!) takes the audience on a journey from the 1700s to 2013 with one family of mixed African and Latino heritage. The range of struggles faced by this family mirror those of more than 9 million Americans who self identify as multi-racial or multi-ethnic. Collaboration between the diversity

departments of the Rockwood and Parkway School districts, the Missouri History Museum and Gitana Productions will bring this performance back to stage at no cost to the public. Gitana received rave reviews from the audiences who came to the show in May and June.

Playwright Mariah Richardson and director Vivian Anderson Watt use drama, dance and music to address the complex issue of mixed identity during different generations in America. For example, one of the family members passed for white

See GITANA, C4

Honey’s Child helps curves and style coincide for the New Year

By Danie Rae, Style Broker

For The St. Louis American

Many of us have kicked off the new year with resolutions that we all know won’t last past February. But keeping with the New Year tradition, we try and make a new start by doing things we’ve put off for 2013. And for us curvy ladies, this year can be different when it comes to stepping up the wardrobe and personal style from being “so –so” to so amazing. There is no time like the present to hop out of that little square box that’s been keeping your personal style from going to the max. Long gone are the days where skinny is the standard. Let’s face it, curves are the cutest. Even the media is embracing the size sexy diva as a hot commodity.

Local boutiques have taken heed to the phenomenon as well and are capitalizing on making curvy chicks look chic. One retailer, Honey’s Child Boutique, has been catering solely to the plus-size market in St. Louis. For the past two years, they have been helping curvy women

embrace themselves fully by making them feel sexy and confident.

Honey’s Child carries designer labels – such as Mynt 1792, Monif C. and local designer T. Linelle Houston – that focus on sizes 12 to 24.

Owner Leticia McPherson-Young said these labels, “ultimately serve as a haven for the

See FASHION, C4

Models: Brittany Turner, leQuita simmons – Watson, lauron Thompson, MiMi Hood

Hair: Hope lynn

Make-up: danie rae

WardroBe provided By: Honey’s Child Boutique, 1927 Washington, ave.

pHoTos By: lawrence Bryant

Moments with Malcolm and Martin

Ka’ramuu Kush stars in The Black Rep’s presentation of ‘The Meeting’

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

“This play manages to give a balanced perspective,” said actor/ director/filmmaker Ka’ramuu Kush.

“My hope is that anyone who sees it at the very least says, ‘Wow, I thought Malcolm was all this way, but he’s not – or I thought Martin was all this way, but he’s not.’”

Kush is preparing to suit up as Malcolm X in The Black Rep’s next mainstage production “The Meeting.” Jeff Stetson’s play is centered around a fictional conversation between Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that took place on the eve of Malcolm X’s assassination in February of 1965.

Often pegged as adversaries, “The Meeting” sheds new light on the civil rights icons.

Directed by Ron Himes, the production also stars Matthew Galbreath as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“Seeing these two titans engage and sharing their thoughts and concepts is really powerful,” Kush said. “I don’t think you can walk away from this play and say this one was all right and that one was all wrong. You see that they were in fact mirror images of each other in a lot of ways.”

Both used their positions as faith leaders as platforms to incite a movement towards equality and respect among people of color. They would pay the ultimate price for their actions and ideas – neither lived to see 40 years of age. But what seemed to most excite Kush about the parallels between the two was how each gravitated towards the other’s way of thinking towards the end of their lives. Kush was eager to share rare footage of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that he stumbled upon during his research for “The Meeting.” It was filmed just days before his assassination as he prepared for the Poor People’s Campaign to take on

Buying and selling swag

Gitana Productions will present Soy Yo! (I Am Me!): An Afro-Latina Suite, written by Mariah Richardson and directed by Vivian Anderson Watt, January 17 at the Missouri History Museum.

How to place a calendar listing

1. Email your listing to calendar@stlamerican. com OR

2. Visit the calendar section on stlamerican.com and place your listing

Calendar listings are free of charge, are edited for space and run on a space-available basis.

mlk day

Sat., Jan. 11, 6:30 p.m.,

The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. State Celebration Commission of Missouri will host its 28th annual kickoff. Nationally syndicated columnist and journalist Roland Martin will serve as the keynote speaker for the event, which is themed, “Focusing on Family Financial Freedom.” Harris Stowe State University’s Main Auditorium, 3026 Laclede Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. hssu.edu.

Tues., Jan. 14, 7:30 p.m., Jewish Community Center: Staenberg Family Complex hosts Community Martin Luther King Event. Featuring Vida “Sister” Prince, author of That’s the Way it Was: Stories of Struggle, Survival and Self-Respect in Twentieth Century Black St. Louis, and T.K. Thorne, author of Last Chance for Justice: How Relentless Investigators Uncovered New Evidence Convicting the Birmingham Church Bombers. For more information, visit http://www. brownpapertickets.com/ event/532376.

Sat., Jan. 18, 8 a.m., Sheraton City Center hosts American Heart Association Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Health Fair & Luncheon. The goal of the event is to increase awareness of risk factors and warning signs in the African American community. Guests will be treated to a heart healthy lunch, free CPR training and heart related education. The event is free, but preregistration is required. 400 S 14th St., 63103. For more information, visit http://www. heart.org/stlouis.

Sat., Jan. 18, 8:30 a.m., Saint Louis Art Museum presents a Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Freedom Celebration, Saint Louis Art Museum, One Fine Arts Drive in Forest Park.

For more information, visit www.slam.org.

Mon., Jan. 20, 10 a.m., Blanche M. Touhill

Performing Arts Center hosts Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Observance 2014. This event will feature engaging speakers, as well as talented musicians and performers. A program for children ages 5 to 11, hosted by the University’s College of Education, also will run concurrently in the lobby. 8001 Natural Bridge Rd., 63121. For more information, visit www. touhill.org.

Mon., Jan. 20, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. St. Louis Metropolitan Area Chapters and Veterans for Peace present MLK, JR. Day of Service Program 2014. Foundations of Money Management at 12:30 p.m., register at www. mlkjrmoneymgmt.eventbrite. com. MLK, Jr. Day of Service Program with keynote speaker Reverend Starsky D. Wilson of St. Johns United Church of Christ. Centenary Church, 1610 Olive St., 63103. For more information, email event@aka-omicroneatomega. org.

Mon., Jan. 20, 10 a.m., Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. St. Louis Metropolitan Area Chapters and Veterans for Peace present MLK, JR. Coat and Blanket Drive 2014 To benefit Armed Services Veterans Living Without a Home of Their Own at “The Bridge.” Jennings Junior High, 8831 Cozens Ave., 63136. For more information, contact eyl. omicronetaomega@gmail.com.

Mon., Jan. 20, 10 a.m., Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. St. Louis Metropolitan Area Chapters and Veterans for Peace present MLK, JR. Coat and Blanket Drive 2014. To benefit Armed Services Veterans Living Without a Home of Their Own. Centenary Church, 1610 Olive St., 63103. For more

Calendar

information, call (636) 2560848 or (314) 458-0921.

Feb. 15 – Feb 28, Gitana Productions’ Global Education through the Arts program will present “Living the Dream: 50 Years and Beyond.” The 45-minute music, drama and dance performance promoting nonviolence and acceptance are scheduled throughout the region during February, Black History Month, to celebrate the messages of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. For more full schedule, locations and more information, visit www. gitana-inc.org or call Gitana Productions at (314) 721-6556.

concerts

Sat., Jan. 18, 8 p.m., Magic 100.3 presents Charlie Wilson. The event will be held at the Fox Theater. 527 N Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Fri., Jan. 17, 7:30 p.m., Jazz at the Bistro hosts Jahmal Nichols CD release party. 3536 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Sat. Jan. 25, 5:30 p.m., The Fox Theater presents The Fresh Beat Band - Live in Concert. Children’s TV show with original pop songs produced for Nick Jr. The Fresh Beats are Shout, Twist, Marina, and Kiki, described as four best friends in a band who go to music school together and love to sing and dance. 527 N Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www. fabulousfox.com.

Fri., Jan. 31, 7:30 p.m., Jazz

St. Louis presents Jazz at Lincoln Center Quartet. Featuring veteran JALC Orchestra musicians Vincent Gardner on trombone, Walter Blanding on tenor sax, Kenny Rampton on trumpet, and Herlin Riley on drums, this is sure to be one of the best swinging shows of the season. Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Friday, Feb. 14, 8 p.m., Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly with Anthony Hamilton and Joe, Chaifetz Arena. For more information, visit www. ticketmaster.com.

local gigs

Saturdays, 3 p.m., The Kendrick Smith Quartet, Premier Lounge, 5969 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. For more information, call (314)385-5281 or e-mail crusadersforjazz@hotmail. com.

Sundays, 6 p.m., Chuck Flowers Live, InSpot, 5854 Delmar. For more information, visit www.artistecard.com/ cflowers

special events

Sat., Jan. 11, 10 a.m., 100

Black Men of Metropolitan St. Louis presents The Power of A Man’s Spirit panel discussion featuring Pastor F. James Clark Pastor Michael Jones, Pastor Aeneas Williams and Rev. Rodney Francis, moderated by Rev. Starsky

Magic 100.3

FM presents Charlie Wilson at The Fox Theatre. See CONCERTS for details.

Wilson, Vashon High School Auditorium, 3035 Cass. For more information or to RSVP visit www.100blackmenstl. com or call (314) 367-7778.

Jan. 11 – 12, COCA Presents 2013-2014: Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble This collaborative, 75-minute dance concert features the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, plus choreography they set on COCAdance and the COCA Hip-Hop Crew –providing the dynamic energy audiences have come to love about these companies! COCA Center of Creative Arts, 524 Trinity Ave., 63130. For more information, call (314) 7256555.

Thurs., Jan. 16, 10:30 a.m., The Peabody Opera House presents Sesame Street Live. 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, visit www. sesamestreetlive.com.

Thur., Jan. 16, 7 p.m., Lila: The Life of a Missouri Slave. Cultural preservationist Angela daSilva has given voice to Lila and brings her forward to tell her story and to give voice to slave women whom time and memory have forgotten. Maplewood Public Library, 7550 Lohmeyer Ave., 63143. For more information, call (314) 781-2174.

Fri., Jan. 17, 7:30 p.m., The Scottrade Center presents WWE Live. 1401 Clark Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www.scottradecenter.com.

Sat., Jan. 18, 10 a.m., Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis presents Boys and Girls Club of Greater St. Louis 5K Resolution Run Fundraiser Event. Start your New Year off right, and keep to your New Year’s Resolution to be fit and healthy. Proceeds support programs that teach our kids healthy lifestyles. 7620 Forsyth Blvd., 63105. For more information, visit www.Onestoprace.com.

Sat., Jan. 18, 8 p.m., The Big Muddy Dance Company presents Happy 250th St. Louis: A Celebration through Dance. 6445 Forsyth Blvd. # 203, 63105. For more information, visit www. thebigmuddydanceco.org.

Sat. Jan. 19, 10 a.m., The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts presents History of a Culture: The Real Hip Hop. Celebrate the history of hip-hop with a day of break dancing & street art. Watch Mr. Freeze, from the legendary Rock Steady Crew & creator of the Ultimate B-boy Championship, emcee a break dancing battle with cash prizes for 1st & 2nd place. 3716 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.

pulitzerarts.org.

Sun., Jan. 19, 6 p.m., Grand Renaissance Hotel hosts St. Louis Baseball Writers Dinner. Celebrate the amazing season that defined the 2013 World Series Cardinals as one of the all-time great clubs. Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the 1964 World Champion Cardinals by welcoming many of the star players from that legendary roster like Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Mike Shannon, Tim McCarver, Bob Uecker, Ray Sadecki, Ernie Broglio, Dick Groat and more. 800 Washington Ave., St Louis, MO 63150. For more information, visit www. lockerdome.com.

Sun., Jan. 19, 1:30 p.m., 101 ESPN presents 101ESPN Championship Bash. Join 101ESPN on-air talent, sports celebrities, and football fans at UMB Champions Club at Busch Stadium to watch the AFC-NFC Championship game in style while helping kids in foster care. Proceeds benefit Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition. 700 Clark Street, 63102. For more information, visit http://www. foster-adopt.org/for-donorsvolunteers/events/101-espnchampionship-bash/. Mon., Jan. 20, 6 p.m., Sidney Street Café presents 10 Years, 10 Chefs Anniversary Dinner. Ten of Sidney Street’s chef friends from near and far will join Kevin Nashan and his team in the kitchen for a very special dinner to mark this milestone; you won’t want to miss it. 2000 Sidney St., 63104. For more information, visit www.sidneystreetcafe. com.

Fri., Jan. 24, 11 a.m., The Hilton Ball Park Hotel hosts 2014 Missouri Lawyer Awards. Join us for networking, lunch and honoring lawyers, judges and law firms for their outstanding accomplishments throughout the year. Nearly 250 members of the legal community join us to recognize the year’s winningest trial and appellate lawyers, law firm innovators and more, capped off with a tribute to Missouri Lawyers Weekly’s Lawyer of the Year. 1 S. Broadway, 63102.

Fri., Jan. 24, 7 p.m., Chase Parks Plaza Hotel hosts The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis’ 12th Annual St. Louis Food & Wine Experience. 212 N. Kingshighway Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.repstl.org.

Sat., Jan. 25, 7 p.m., The St. Louis Underground Music Festival presents The 2014 SLUMFEST Hip Hop Awards. This award show spotlights the contribution to the St. Louis Hip Hop Community from Hip Hop Artists, DJ’s, Producers and B-Boys/ B-Girls throughout 2013. 3224 Locust St., 63103. For more information, visit www.slumfest.com.

Fri., Feb. 7, 8 p.m., Alive Magazine presents Buzz List Party 2014. Buzz List celebrates St. Louis’ most influential people, organizations and ideas of the year. This is your chance to meet, greet and party with the go-getters enriching the city. Lucas Park Grille, 1234 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com for tickets.

March 16 – March 20, Black College Tour, Colleges/ Universities on the tour include: Tougaloo, Jackson

State, Alcorn State, Southern Dillard and Xavier. For more information, Please visit the website: akagammaomegastl. com or call 314-721-2708.

comedy

Fri., Jan. 10, 8 p.m., Comedy in the Lou presents Marty DeRosa & BassAmp and DanO. Marty DeRosa began doing stand-up comedy in 2006 and has quickly set himself apart from his comedy peers with an amazing flair for crowd work and an uncanny knowledge of professional wrestling. 2706 Olive St., 63103. For more information, visit www.firebirdstl.com.

Sat., Feb. 1, 7 p.m., Lumiere Place presents Keenen Ivory Wayans. 999 N. Second St.

theatre

Thurs., Jan 23, 6 p.m., RockShow Academy host Auditions for Disney’s “Beauty & the Beast Jr.” Step into the enchanted world of Broadway’s modern classic, come prepared with 16 bars of a song and sheet music; accompanist provided. 8809 Gravois Rd., 63123. For more information, visit www. rockshowacademy.com.

Jan. 24 – 25, Ballet Memphis presents The Wizard of OZ. Touhill Performing Arts Center, One University Blvd., 63121. For more information, visit www.touhill.org.

Through Jan. 26, The Black Rep presents The Meeting, Harris-Stowe State University Emerson Performance Center. For more information, call (314) 534-3807 or visit www. theblackrep.org.

Jan. 30 – Feb. 9, The Black Rep presents For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow is Enuf. This Tony Awardwinning drama depicts the struggles, obstacles and

inspiring strength of the African-American woman. Starring the indomitable Linda Kennedy as the Lady in Red, For Colored Girls is a celebrated and powerful 20-poem cycle. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit metrotix. com.

Feb., 6 – 8 at 8 p.m., and Feb., 9 at 2 p.m., Mustard Seed Theater presents Gee’s Bend. The story of the Pettway women, quilters from the isolated community of Gee’s Bend Alabama. Beginning in 1939, the play follows Alice, her daughters Sadie and Nella, and Sadie’s husband, Macon, through segregation, family strife and the Civil Rights movement. 6800 Wydown Blvd., 63105. For more information, visit www. mustardseedtheatre.com.

Fri., Feb. 7, 8 p.m., The Fox Theater presents Mamma Mia. 527 N Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit metrotix.com.

Feb., 14 – 16, Peabody Opera House presents Shen Yun. The words evoke a sense of wonder, magic, and the divine. Discover the glory of a fantastically rich culture, that of classical China, brought to life through brilliantly choreographed dance and mesmerizing, all-original orchestral compositions. 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, visit www. shenyun.com.

Thurs., Feb. 20 – Fri., Feb. 21, The Gaslight Cabaret Festival featuring stage and screen veteran Ken Page, The Gaslight Theater 358 N. Boyle St. Louis MO 63108. For tickets, go to www.LicketyTix. com.

literary

Sat., Jan. 11, 7 p.m., Jane Pauley signs and discusses Your Life Calling. In 2014, every baby boomer will have

reached the milestone age of fifty. For most, it’s not an end, but the beginning of something new. Jane Pauley, one of America’s most beloved broadcast journalists, gives voice to the opportunities of her generation, offering humor and insight about the journey forward. St. Louis County Library, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63124.

Wed., Jan. 15, 6 p.m. and Tues., Jan. 21, 6 p.m., St. Louis Public Library and Left Bank Books presents hosts Meet Local (Children’s) Authors. Susan Grigsby, Patricia McKissack, Bobby Norfolk, and Jeanie Franz Ransom will speak and sign books in the Juvenile Fiction Room. 1301 Olive St., 63103. For more information, visit www.left-bank.com or call 314.367.6731.

Mon., Feb. 3, 7 p.m., Greg Kot signs and discusses I’ll Take You There Greg Kot presents the untold story of living legend Mavis Staples-lead singer of the Staples Singers. St. Louis County Library, 1640 S. Lindbergh, 63131. For more information, visit www.left-bank.com.

Saint Louis Art Museum presents a Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Freedom Celebration. See MLK Day Activities for more information.

Paintings, Four Moods. The Museum recently received the gift of Setting Sun of Sacramento Valley, a stunning painting by the JapaneseAmerican artist Chiura Obata (1885-1975). In recognition of the generous gift; the Museum has assembled three other major works by Obata from the 1930s. One Fine Arts Dr., 63110. For more information, visit www.art-stl.com.

Fri., Jan. 24, 7 p.m., Grand Center hosts I Killed Kenny. Joyce Pensato: I Killed Kenny, the artist’s first museum survey, features monumental enamel paintings and a largescale painting rendered directly onto CAM’s gallery walls. 634 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www. grandcenter.org.

arts

Fri., Jan. 10, Craft Alliance host fif-TEA: 14th Biennial Teapot Exhibition. The exhibition will mark the start of a year of celebrations for CA’s 50th Anniversary season. This invitational exhibition will feature over 50 artists who create innovative teapots made of clay, metal, glass, wood, and fiber. 6640 Delmar Blvd., 63130. For more information, visit www.craftalliance.org.

Fri., Jan. 10, 5:30 p.m. Opening reception for The Regional Arts Commission’s presentation of “Irrevocable Fragments”, the painting and mixed media work of local artists Clayvon Ambrose Wesley, Byron Darnell Rogers, and David Dolak. The exhibition will run through February 15. Curated by Rene Dimanche, the show examines the memories and influences that define our purpose as individuals. The exhibit is free and open to the public. Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar.

Tues., Jan. 14, 10 a.m., St. Louis Art Museum presents Chiura Obata: Four

Fri., Jan. 31, 6 p.m., Julia Davis Branch Library hosts Miles from Here. Ron Young presents a series of paintings of legendary jazz trumpeter and East St. Louis native Miles Davis. Ron’s uses color in his compositions to express the emotional energy created in Miles‘ music. 4451 Natural Bridge Ave., 63115. For more information, visit www. fabulousartbymeronyoung. com.

Sun., Feb. 2, 11 a.m., The Contemporary Art Museum hosts Artist Talk: It is What it Is: Conversations About Iraq. The unique discussion brings together key participants in artist Jeremy Deller’s 2009 project about the war in Iraq. The discussion will reflect on how the active engagement of the audience in the experience of art can transform one’s understanding of the world. 3750 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.webster.edu.

lectures

Thur., Jan. 9, 7 p.m., Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice presents The Justice Gap. Program will focus on unequal access to

justice in St. Louis, where an estimated 80 percent of the legal needs of the poor go unmet. Speakers will be Daniel K. Glazier, executive director and general counsel of Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, and Thomas Harvey, co-founder and executive director of Arch City Defenders. Ethical Society, 9001 Clayton Rd., 63117. For more information, call (314) 863-1247.

Sat., Jan. 11, 9 a.m.,Woman’s Place is pleased to present Healthy Relationshipsexploring the dynamics of healthy relationships. The workshop is free. Preregistration is required by calling 314-645-4848. Visit www.womansplacestl.org for regularly updated information.

Sat., Jan. 11, 5:45 p.m., Hilton at the Ball Park Hotel presents An evening with the Cardinals. New Hall of Fame inductee Tony LaRussa, current Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst and former pitching coach Dave Duncan will be featured in an engaging evening of discussion about the Cardinals and Major League Baseball. All proceeds help children with cancer and their families. 1 S. Broadway, 63102. For more information, visit www.thenccs.org.

Sun., Jan. 12, 2 p.m., Catholic Action Network for Social Justice presents Mass Incarceration: Slavery Revisited Part I –Understanding the System of Mass Incarceration. A twopart free public form. More black men are incarcerated today in the USA than were enslaved in 1850. Selective enforcement, mandatory minimums, the new Jim Crow! Panelists include Randall Cahill, Jamala Rogers, Dr. Beth Huebner, and Sabrina Watson with moderator Sylvester Brown, Jr. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. catholicactionnetwork.org/ forums.

now intertwined with pop culture. And that’s not a bad thing. This new paradigm has given birth to the hip-hop mogul. They make money and further their tastemaker status from power moves and collaborations with corporations as much as (and in some cases more than) record deals with major labels and guest verses on the track of the flavor of the month rapper.

Now as far as “I’m selling this...” I think you will see more of it. Is it good for the brand of hip-hop? Who knows? I think it’s all about how genuine the artist is. The difference between building a brand and being a sellout lies in what you present to your audience through your craft. Jay Z actually talks about that.

We always say “Well, Jay Z made another million dollars,” when he lands another big deal or partnership. But we don’t look at him differently as far as his music. Why? Well, it’s all about the trust you build

with the listeners. Let it be another artist –it’s like “they must really need the money.” MC Hammer petered out, of course, because people he didn’t have that trust. Before Jay-Z became this big business man, he was giving core hip-hop a great staple of art. He provided this rap

n We want the finer things. Will that aspect go away? No, we’re too far gone as a culture.

ecosystem that seemed to be for the people and by the people. We still talk about the Roc-A-Fella era all these years later.

When you come up like that, it’s easy to take a big Samsung deal and not be considered a sellout. The bottom line is the relationship that the artist has with the people and the music they’ve given their fans. I just think that it’s a case-by-case situation.

If the general perception

is that you care about the art form first – and you’re not just whoring yourself out, it will be considered acceptable.

Hip-hop has been based on free promo for big designers and big shoe companies just because we want to be associated with luxury. We want the finer things. Will that aspect go away? No, we’re too far gone as a culture.

That’s not to say that there won’t be more people like an Odd Future coming along where they are so counter culture – or even now like Lorde’s “Royals.” She’s a 16 year old from New Zealand shunning everything that radio is talking about right now. We’re playing it on Hot (104.1) right now because it’s one of those songs that transcends genres and speaks directly to the people.

But then at the same time you have a “Tom Ford.”

The truth is, rappers can’t be 100 percent independent and reach the height they want to go to – there has to be a successful marriage between art and commerce.

A-Plus is the nighttime personality for Hot 104.1 FM (7 p.m. – midnight weekdays). Follow him on Twitter at @a_plus.

FASHION

Continued from C1

fashionable, plus-sized woman who is not afraid to be herself.” We partnered with Honey’s Child Boutique to showcase how the plus-size woman can go from blah to bling.

Danie Rae’s 2014 wardrobe to-do list

Ditch the drab – Many plussized women think that bigger clothes are the solution to making them look smaller. But it’s just the opposite. Bigger clothes can come off looking like sacks instead of actual clothing. Finding clothes that fit properly is always better for your overall look. Styles with the peplum accents and jersey fabric can hug and hide in all the right places. Wearing options that fit correctly make for a more polished and refined look, instead of shabby and disheveled.

Continued from C1

during the 1950s to increase the economic and social opportunity of the family during a time of great racism.

America’s many famous Afro-Latinos include Marian Carey, Sammie Davis Jr., Roberto Clemente, Celia Cruz and Soledad O’Brien. From 2000 to 2010, the number of Americans identifying with multiple races grew by 32 percent over the decade, for a total of 9 million.

Cecilia Nadal, executive

director of Gitana Productions, is an AfroLatina. Nadal’s father Jose Adolfo Nadal was Puerto Rican and her mother an African American with mixed identity including Cherokee, Irish and French heritage. “It is very exciting to see the enthusiasm of people like Terry Harris at Rockwood and Charlotte Ijei at Parkway School District who recognize that diversity goes way beyond numbers and goals,” Nadal said. “It is so important to impart understanding and empathy for the day-to-day experiences of people with mixed backgrounds. We

want our audience to walk in the shoes of those who are Afro-Latino and understand how there is often a selfnegotiation that goes on because of the nature of how we treat race and class in America.”

“Soy Yo! (I Am Me!)” runs for only one night 8 p.m. Friday, January 17. This is a free program so tickets are not necessary. Seats are available on a first come first serve basis. The performance will be held in Lee Auditorium at the Missouri History Museum located at 5700 Lindell. Call 314-721-6556.

In living color – Another big misconception about dressing when curvy is that “black is the best.” Don’t get me wrong, black is chic and can hide all the things that need to be hidden. But if that’s the only go-to when it’s time to get gussied up, then there needs to be a color intervention. Now, I’m not saying jump into a neon cat suit, but adding a bright accent, like a colorful blazer or a patterned infinity scarf, can take hum drum out of the constant black.

Shoe game proper – Most women are addicted to shoes. It’s just in our nature. And plus-sized women aren’t exempt from this standard. The only issue that many of us run into is finding comfortable shoes that are fashionable. Keeping with the trends of

super high, chunky pumps can be painful, but that’s not an excuse to opt for the kitten heel, (no shade to the FLOTUS). Heels can be made more comfortable by using shoe inserts, and sometimes going a size up can allow for the foot to have a little more life in the shoe.

Confidence is key – Despite what’s going on with an outward appearance, the confidence that one possesses is what shines through. I am a firm believer that confidence is the best accessory. If it’s present, then whatever look is going on will always be the best. Because you are being the best you can be.

Honey’s Child Boutique is located at 1927 Washington Ave. For more information and details on the looks, please contact visit www. honeyschildboutique.com.

25 years after the original production debuted on stage.

Being Malcolm X

the nation’s capitol.

“When we go to Washington, we are coming to get our check,” King said in the clip, speaking on what America owed African Americans in the form of reparations promised a century before.

“He sounded like Malcolm on that clip, didn’t he?” Kush said.

It was true. Dr. King could have easily said, “We are going to get our checks by any means necessary.”

“Malcolm also evolved into embracing whites and realizing that it wasn’t so much about color as it was about a mentality,” Kush said. “I think they both really start to resemble each other towards the end of their lives – and people don’t really know about Martin starting to resemble Malcolm a lot in terms of perspective and consciousness.”

“The Meeting” gives audiences a taste of the two leaders’ likenesses and still resonates with viewers nearly

Kush said he was fortunate enough to grow up in a house where there was a black Jesus on the wall – and next to that was a picture of Malcolm X.

“My grandfather actually knew and worked with Malcolm a lot, as far as bringing him to Detroit for speaking engagements,” he said. “I heard personal stories of Malcolm the man – not just the icon – so he was kind of like the uncle I never knew.”

Kush’s “Uncle Malcolm” is actually indirectly responsible for his career path. At 17, he caught the acting bug after reciting one of Malcolm’s speeches during a high school assembly. He soaked in the energy of the audience being mesmerized by his words and found his calling. His passion for drama would eventually earn him a BFA in Literature, Writing and The Arts from The New School University, MFA in Classical Drama from Sarah Lawrence College and MFA

in Film Directing from AFI Conservatory. He would also go on to portray Malcolm four times.

“I’ve done Malcolm before but I haven’t,” Kush said. “Because every playwright approaches him differently, so it’s like approaching a new character all together.”

He coyly admitted that the Malcolm audiences see in “The Meeting” is his favorite portrayal so far.

“This play captures the part of Malcolm that most interests me because it captures a side of him that wasn’t really seen,” Kush said. “I hope they take away that Malcolm was funny – that Malcolm was personable. Unfortunately, popular media has cast Malcolm out to be this angry, aggressive unapproachable cat. Actually, he was a loving family man who had a deep, passionate love for black people and their plight.”

The Black Rep’s presentation of “The Meeting” continues through January 26th at Harris-Stowe State University’s Emerson Performance Center. For tickets or more info, call (314) 534-3807 or visit www. theblackrep.org.

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

MLK Sunrise Freedom Celebration at Art Museum

On the third Monday of January, America celebrates the birth, life, and dreams of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a national holiday in his honor. The struggle to establish a national holiday in Dr. King’s honor took nearly 20 years. Now it is the law of the land with the King Monument sitting on a four-acre site on the grounds of the National Mall between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials in Washington DC. It is a time for celebration, but it is also a time to assess our country’s progress to achieve Dr. King’s hopes and dreams for freedom, equality, and dignity for all people.

The start of a new year is often a time for self-reflection. This year’s annual King Celebration at the Art Museum will reflect as well. Mr. Wayne Harvey will examine today’s social issues, successes, and challenges in the context of Dr. King’s dreams in his keynote address titled: “Where do we go from here?” Please join us for our free annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther Freedom Celebration on Saturday, January 18 at 8:30 am in our recently reopened The Farrell Auditorium. Seating is limited and doors will open at 7:30 am.

To celebrate our return to the Museum auditorium, the Museum is pleased to welcome back several esteemed presenters for encore musical, theatrical, visual-arts and spoken-word performances. The Young Artists for Justice and Peace will present a performance titled, “We Carry the Dream” an excerpt from Hope in the Hood – A 40 Corners Production. This talented youth theatrical group is under the direction of Marsha Cann artistic director and actress, poet, story-teller, and educator. Visual artist, Tony Artz is sure to delight everyone as he honors Dr. King with an original visual arts performance.

In keeping with Dr. King’s inclusion of music in meetings and marches, two choirs will perform. Just Friends, members from more than a half dozen St. Louis area churches led by musical director Harry Moppins, will perform interfaith gospel and spiritual music. The celebration also will

January 18 Saint

The YES program is great

Jasmine Cooper Metro High School Grade 10

The YES (Youth Exploring Science) Program at the Saint Louis Science Center is a very beneficial program to various amounts of students, and I sure can say it has been extremely beneficial to me. I learned so much throughout my time so far that I have been in the program. I am going on about a year now, and I love the program so much. I began last summer as a teen in the summertime science component, where we came up with different experiments to teach various amounts of kids ages 4-12. I absolutely fell in love with the job, it made me realize my passion for teaching. It amazed me so much to see the kids pay attention to me, and understand the concept I was teaching. I enjoyed how us teens got to make the

experiment fun, and have fun with the children. The YES Program is great, preparing us for real world jobs. We learn so many professional skills, and the staff there do not treat us as kids but as their co-workers! Going to work every day is awesome because we not only get the opportunity to work and get paid, but as well to learn! The program is preparing teenagers for our future, opening our eyes to our potential success. I am now in the component Agriscience, and I absolutely love it as well. We learn about what goes on in our community dealing with science, we become aware of the bad things, and try and create ways to change them and make people aware of what’s going on with science. It is fantastic, and I am so grateful to have applied to this program, and when I graduate, I plan to take everything I’ve learned with me, and hopefully get others involved in the program so they can experience the great things I have.

include award winning New Sunny Mount Missionary Baptist Church Chancel Choir under the direction of musical minister Anita Watkins- Stevens.

Please join us to give tribute to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Saturday, January 18, at 8:30. Doors will open at 7:30 am and we invite you to join us for a complimentary beverage and pastry. This program is free and open to the public, but seating is limited and tickets are required. Same-day and advance FREE Tickets are available at the Museum Information Centers during regular Museum hours. Advance tickets are also available through Metrotix. The tickets are FREE, but tickets acquired through Metrotix will incur a Metrotix service fee. For additional information, please call 314.655.5444.

©Johnson publishing Co., Inc. , 1965

Jasmine Cooper

Birthdays

Happy 13th Birthday Maximus on January 9! It has been my pleasure to help you grow into the respectable young man you are. Stand proud and know you are a treasure to your family, friends and teachers. Continue to share your gifts to God’s glory. With Love and Encouragement, Your Mother

Reunions

All reunion announcements can be viewed online!

~ Celebrations ~

Andrew Sr. and Yoruba would like to say Happy 14th Birthday to our daughter, Bobbie Shay As you see God had blessed you this day and many more! We love you and are proud of you! Dad, Mom and your brother

Happy 89th Birthday to our mother, grandmother, greatgrandmother and greatgreat-grandmother, Amanda A. Binns on January 2! We love you, and there’s no one like you! Love, Your Family

Wishing Bishop Ernest A. Byrd a very blessed Happy Birthday on January 10!

Happy 60th Birthday to the world’s A-1 mother, Janice Marie Winston on January 12! I love you, Mama!

Do you have a celebration you’re proud of? If so we would like to share your good news with our readers. Whether it’s a birth, graduation, wedding, engagement announcement, anniversary, retirement or birthday, send your photos and a brief announcement (50 words or less) to us and we may include it in our paper and website – AT NO COST – as space is available Photos will not be returned. Send your announcements to: kdaniel@stlamerican. com or mail to: St. Louis American Celebrations c/o Kate Daniel 4242 Lindell Ave St. Louis, MO 63108 FREE OF CHARGE

Beaumont High Class of 1964 has started planning for its 50 year class reunion. We are currently looking for participants to help with the planning. Please provide your contact information to: beaumont64alumni@gmail. com.Send your ideas as well as the best time for meetings.

Beaumont High Class of 1968 is invited to plan and organize the June 2014 46th Class Reunion Family Picnic, Jan. 25, 2014 3- 5 p.m. at Cookies n Popcorn Factory 8149 Delmar. For more information email bhsco1968@att.net or call 869-8312.

Beaumont High Class of 1969 reunion planning committee meeting is set for Sat, Jan. 25, 2014 from noon—3 pm at the Vagabond House, 4315 Westminister Pl. Contact info: LaDonne at 314 277-5095 or beaumontclassof1969@yahoo. com.

Beaumont High Class of 1984 is looking for participants to begin planning its 30 year class reunion. Please provide your contact information to: beaumont_1984@yahoo.com.

Sumner High Class Of 1974 has started planning its 40th class reunion. Meetings are held each third Saturday of the month from 2-4 pm at New Beginnings Missionary Baptist Church, 4055 Edmundson Rd. 63134. Please contact Marsha D. Roberts-Moore at sumnerclassof1974@ yahoo.com, 314-367-3159 or Joyce Bush-Cruesoe at cruesoe2195@att.net, 314484-1552.

Sumner High Class of 1969 has started planning its 45th class reunion. Please email shsclassof69@yahoo.com for more information or call Leonard at 314-413-3104 or Meredith at 314-306-2349.

Sumner High Class of 1979 is looking for classmates to participate in activities leading up to its 35th Class Reunion, June 20-22, 2014 in Lake Ozarks, MO. Please forward contact information to sumner1979@ymail.com or call Sara at 314-482-1558. Various activities are planned. Sumner High Class of 1984 are planning their 30 year reunion for August 22-24, 2014. For more information

please contact Priscilla (Ms. Prissy) at 314-556-3944, or Robin Allen at 314-369-9549.

St. Louis Community College has created a districtwide Alumni Association, and needs your help identifying the 1.5 million STLCC alumni. An alum is anyone who has completed at least one course at STLCC. Alumni are encouraged to visit the website: www. stlcc.edu/foundation/, to become members or update information. For more information, contact Ashley Budde, coordinator of alumni relations, at abudde6@stlcc. edu, or 314-539-5145.

Reunion notices are free of charge and based on space availability. We prefer that notices be emailed to us! However, notices may also be sent by mail to: Kate Daniel, 4242 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108. Deadline is 10 a.m. on Friday. If you’d like your class to be featured in a reunion profile, email or mail photos to us. Our email address is: reunions@ stlamerican.com

Council decries ‘Islamophobia’

Report: a network of organizations is promoting anti-Muslim sentiment

By Camille Phillips

A 2013 report from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) identifies a network of 37 organizations that systematically promote anti-Muslim sentiment in America through prejudice, fear and hatred. CAIR calls it “Islamophobia.”

According to tax filings analyzed by CAIR, this network had access to nearly $120 million between 2008 and 2011.

“After September the Eleventh, you would expect there would be a spike in antiMuslim or anti-Islam attacks in the United States, and that’s what we saw after September the Eleventh,” said Faizan Syed, executive director of CAIR-St. Louis

“But what’s unique is that after the first few years, those percentage of attacks actually kept going down and down and decreased. And then in 2008 and 2009, we saw another spike in those biased, motivated attacks. And we’ve seen that height now more than even after September the Eleventh.”

That’s where the network of organizations identified in the report comes in.

“We feel that part of the bigotry and hatred that exists is not just because it exists. But rather, it is an orchestrated,

well-organized, well-funded thought process that is being pushed on the American public,” said Syed. Syed differentiated between the inner and outer core of organizations CAIR identified as contributing to anti-Muslim sentiment. Syed said the inner core is comprised of 34 organizations while the outer core has 37. According to the report, the inner core has 37 and the outer core has 32.

The report’s title,

“Legislating Fear,” comes in part from the proliferation of bills targeting Islamic religious law in recent years. According to the report, 78 bills with negative implications towards Islamic religious practices were introduced in 29 states between 2011 and 2012. As of 2013, seven states have made these bills into law.

“I think that there were certain legislators who were more or less duped by these national organizations who were pushing fear and concern

about really non-existing problems,” said John Chasnoff, former program director of ACLU-Eastern Missouri. “And then there were other legislators who thought that it was to their political advantage to jump on board.”

In 2013, Governor Jay Nixon vetoed the latest version of the bill in Missouri, known as the “anti-Sharia law bill.”

To counter Islamophobia, Islamic Americans need to be more involved in their communities, said Syed. “We need to speak to a more diverse crowd,” he said, and “be more engaged with [our] neighbors.”

Edited slightly and reprinted with permission from The Beacon and St. Louis Public Radio, news.stlpublicradio.org.

New Life in Christ breaks ground

In 2001, New Life in Christ Interdenominational Church

The Council on AmericanIslamic Relations says a network of 37 organizations is systematically promoting anti-Muslim sentiment in America through prejudice, fear and hatred.

had humble beginnings. The initial core membership began services in the O’Fallon, Illinois basement of a parishioner’s home.

As membership grew, so did the need for more space. The church moved out of the basement and held services at several locations – the O’Fallon Library, a local office building and the Sheraton Four Points Hotel in Fairview Heights –before building and moving into its current $4.3 million O’Fallon, Illinois church facility in 2003.

Now 10 years later, with a membership of more than 2,000 people, New Life in Christ broke ground on a new $5.4 million building expansion project on December 29. It will double the size of its current sanctuary to more than 1000 seats, construct a new children’s classroom wing and add 500 new parking spaces. Construction is expected to end in November 2014.

I believe tests come from the Almighty while temptations come from the devil. I’m pretty sure God’s intent is to test you, but it is not necessarily His desire to break you. Triumph over these kinds of pop quizzes in life gives us the practical experience that turns into sincere testimony. Without them, we would not be able to testify about God’s goodness and mercy. We wouldn’t be able to acknowledge Him as the reason we got through any of it.

I can relate to the trials and turmoil of someone else catching what appears to be hell here on earth. No one is immune to this. As a matter of fact, I am struggling with the notion that it is a privilege to be singled out by God to endure certain hardships. It is at times difficult, but becomes one’s obligation to declare, “I am here today as a witness to the mercy, kindness and grace of the Almighty.” When it appears that all doors are closed and all options have run out, that is the perfect time to look for and depend on God for the answers that you need, even if they don’t appear to be the answers that you want. There is a ram in the bush for every situation, but we have to be certain in our faith that through even mustard seed-

sized faith, mountains can be moved. You’ve got to believe God will not abandon you. He is with you now no matter the impossible of circumstance. You’ve got to find peace in this because there is trouble ahead just as there was trouble back in the day. Yeah, but back then you didn’t know, as I didn’t, that the fight was fixed. We both have an unstoppable teammate. For those who might be wondering where I’m getting this from, there is scripture that captures the essence of this. Turn your bibles to 1 Corinthians 10:1213. “So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall. No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But, when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” There is a ram somewhere. God provides it through His grace not your effort. Our job is to hold onto our faith, know it’s there, listen and keep our eyes and hearts open. Once you submit to the fact that it ain’t up to you, then you will be privileged to open the door to God’s solution.

American is accepting Inspirational Messages

James A. Washington

Celebrity Swagger Snap of the Week

Remembering New Year’s Eve 2K13. Because of the way it fell on the losing end of my deadline, it seems like it’s almost Valentine’s Day as I give y’all the rundown of how the folks spent their last night of 2013 in these streets. Oh well, you still want to hear about it, right?...of course you do. Even though it felt way more low-key than the usual STL NYEs of the past, every party I went to was winning in its own way. And that’s no small feat for the city when you consider that I bopped around to about ten spots. I’ll start with my only negative experience for the night – which was really only bad for me because of my leaving much-to-be-desired time management skills. My first stop was to the Ambassador for the “We Have $700 And Got As Many Low Budget Celebrity Performers As We Could Fling Together” bash starring Changing Faces, Glenn Jones and Lenny Williams. They had a nice-sized crowd and Kut was killing it on the ones and twos, but because they had a late start I decided to run an errand and double back. I thought the worst thing that would happen is I would miss the soulful alphabet musings of “Get O-U-T.” In all seriousness, I was looking forward to seeing Glenn Jones live because I feel like he’s one of the most underrated and unappreciated balladeers in the game. Too bad for me that the organizers thought that his slew of slow jams didn’t deserve billing above Changing Faces. I really don’t see how that was possible. So instead of getting a sip of “Show Me” or “We’ve Only Just Begun (The Romance is Not Over)” I walked in on “Cracking Voices” on ponytails, silver liquid leggings and an audience member singing R. Kelly’s part that was teasing us with a soulful Waka Flocka Flame. Every time he sang “I don’t mind” it made think he was gonna follow it up with “…cause I go hard in the paint.” But even with all that being said, folks seemed to genuinely enjoy themselves. Since I was already in the County, I swung by the Sound Bar for $2 Tuesday, which was just getting started but the folks in line made me know that it was going to be to the gills. After that, I headed towards the City – which housed the majority of the NYE celebrations. My next stop was to the MX theatre for Cornell Boone and company for his “Three Magic Words” New Year’s Eve offering. I was expecting it to be a larger scale, but I still was impressed with energy and the atmosphere. I’ve decided that Boone has the power to make everything seem sexy and affluent. Since I was already downtown, I eased on over to Lola and I must say that – as usual – Spinderella slayed the tables and had the folks in dance mode for the entire time. That’s why when picking a celebrity DJ, I would advise the folks to resist the urge of the name brand novices and go for someone who actually makes a living on the ones and twos. Okay, back to NYE. I hit the highway over to Soho to kick it with Koncepts, and I’m glad I did. I headed to the Rustic Goat hoping to catch what was left of the Prince tribute, but it was too late. Even though the Purple Reign element had left the building, the folks were still busting a move on the dance floor like it was 1999…get it? Nevermind. The Coliseum was how I closed out my New Year’s Eve festivities and understand that I was not alone. It had to be at least at capacity as they rung in that 2KCatorce (y’all didn’t know I was bilingual, did you? I’m not). And the folks were going in. I must give it to the Coliseum for winning on the sheer mass of guests, but New Year’s Eve 2K13 proved to be a good day to be black and kicking it in the STL from just about every angle.

The Binge. I didn’t know what to expect at the Soho Friday night when the folks presenting “Binge” took over…two hours of open bar…I’m just sayin’. I know the event name suggested otherwise, but folks were reserved and obviously kicking it with moderation in mind. When I showed up it was actually a cool vibe and nice crowd. No alcohol induced shenanigans, just folks together having a great time. But Soho typically serves up the “we’re into the club, but we have a job and a reputation to uphold” type of revelers and even with the bottomless glasses it was pretty much exactly that.

Kicking it at the Kranzberg. I got there pretty late, but I hope at some point that there were volunteer applications handed out as the folks cut a rug up inside the Big Brothers, Big Sisters Building for the latest installment of 1st Friday – which was held at the Kranzberg Arts Center. Because I was among the last strolling in, I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt…. wait, who am I kidding? While it was tight as all get out up in the designated party zone, the whole thing was actually quite nice as the folks filed in to observe the fresh new location unlike the crickets that was the last 1st Friday of 2013 over at EXO. It was really cute and was the first indicator that I’ll probably be enjoying myself to the max with 1st Fridays and the others on the nightlife scene for 2014.

Fabolous Friday. I was thrilled beyond measure when I found out that Phil Assets was bringing the OG Mr. Crooked Smile a.k.a. Fabolous to headline his Capricorn Bash edition of Coliseum Fridays. I had a little party at my computer bobbing my head and singing along as I anticipated the stroll down hip-hop memory lane. But then it hit me that I was actually singing all of Ja Rule’s songs and had just inserted a “FA-BO-LO-US...” on top of them wherever I saw fit. It didn’t make me any less excited about hitting up the Coliseum tomorrow night though, because LooseCannon and Liquid Assets have had the spot ___________ (insert new slang for “turned up”) whenever they get their hands on the Coliseum, and I’m sure with Fabolous in the building it will be more of the same. But I still want to take this moment to petition y’all to have a Lil’ Mo and Ja Rule duet headliner in the mix as y’all come up with the roster of talent. Sorry, not to take anything away from Fab –but I felt like this was the time to throw my suggestion in the box.

Jessica and Alexis were among the stylish guests who said hello to 2014 with Shift58 @ These Three Words @ MX Movie Theatre Tuesday night

Rob and Brittany left 2013 behind in grand fashion thanks to the epic bash featuring Spinderella Tuesday night @ Lola

Teddy and Makeda made their rounds throughout the city thanks to BFree Paparazzi teaming up to provide four party buses that hit several NYE hotspots

The Drakes came through to party the year away on New Year’s Eve Tuesday night @ The Rustic Goat

Lala, Jasmine and Wy were among the city’s most stylish citizens who came through as 1st Friday made its 2014 debut @ The Kranzberg Arts Center

Chanel and Michelle kept Simply Sexy true to its name Friday night @ Soho

Mike Butler and Laron Havemore pulled off a pop up New Year’s Eve party on Tuesday night

Cuetopia II crew Nicole, James and Ebony brought in the New Year Casino Royale style

Arianna, Gabriel and Brittany were just a few of the beauties who celebrated New Year’s Eve Great Gatsby style Tuesday night @

Coliseum

Photos by Lawrence Bryant

Improving diversity in public service

Congresswoman Waters supports Millennium Momentum Foundation

American staff

Congresswoman Maxine Waters

(CA-43), a native of Kinloch, was on hand to give opening remarks for the 11th Annual Opening Door Awards on Friday, Dec. 6, hosted by the Millennium Momentum Foundation, Inc.

During the event, the foundation provided $54,000 in scholarships to 18 students representing various multicultural communities throughout Greater Los Angeles and the Southern California region that have demonstrated academic success, leadership potential and financial need.

n “It is critical that our voices be heard so that we can come up with solutions that work for our communities.”

– Congresswoman

Maxine Waters

“We were truly honored to have Congresswoman Maxine Waters attend our 11th Annual Opening Doors Awards,” said Jason L. Seward, founder & CEO of Millennium Momentum Foundation, Inc. “Not only did her powerful opening remarks set the tone for the historical occasion, but she also took the time to personally honor and congratulate each and every one of our Best & Brightest Scholars on stage with certificates of recognition during the Awards Show. The congresswoman has always demonstrated this personalized level of engagement and involvement in support of our organization and our students since our inception in 2002, and we are eternally grateful.”

“I am so proud of the Millennium Momentum Foundation and the outstanding contributions that it has made and continues to make by helping to increase the number of young minorities in public policy and other public service-related fields through education, mentoring, and leadership development training,” said Congresswoman Waters.

A national report released by the

National Urban Fellows last year, entitled, “Diversity Counts: Racial and Ethnic Diversity among Public Service Leadership,” reveals that minorities remain largely underrepresented in public service leadership, including government, philanthropy and nonprofit organizations.

“It is critical that our voices be heard so that we can come up with solutions that work for our communities,” added Congresswoman Waters. “And that is why the work that this foundation is doing to improve diversity in public service is so important. I

encourage the Millennium Momentum Foundation to continue to develop our aspiring young leaders that are seeking to enter public service careers.”

STLCC receives $300K grant for child care

To support the participation of more low-income parents in higher education, the U.S. Department of Education recently awarded nearly $9.2 million to 58 postsecondary institutions to establish or support campus-based child care services.

St. Louis Community College received a grant of $300,000.

“Peace of mind is an important factor in student success,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “These grants help parents stay focused on their studies and graduation goals. The funding is part of the department’s overall effort to support parenting students so that they can build better lives for themselves and their children.”

Funded under the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program, awards can be used for child care services for all age groups: infants, toddlers,

and preschoolers, as well as before and after-school care for school-age children. Students eligible to receive services for their children through CCAMPIS must be eligible for Pell grants, which are awarded based on financial need. In addition to using a sliding fee scale for the services, some grantees require students to attend parent workshops and take part in academic counseling to maximize their prospects for success in completing their higher education studies.

This year, to align with the department’s overall priorities for higher education, applicants were also encouraged to include support for military families.

All 58 grants, located in 28 states, are funded for four years.

Maryville:

overperforming university

Maryville University of St. Louis has been named the No. 1 overperforming university in the nation for the second year in a row as cited by U.S. News & World Report. Experts at U.S. News & World Report looked at data from the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges 2014, then took peer assessment and compared it to actual rankings. Maryville University’s performance is 99 places above its peer assessments

“Receiving this ranking for the second year in a row, shows we are doing outstanding work for our students inside and outside the classroom,” said Maryville University President Mark Lombardi. “It also confirms that in higher education, great national reputations arise after years of sustained exemplary performance. Studies such as this amplify the facts: we have an 87 percent retention rate, a 76 percent graduation rate and a 94 percent career placement rate, and you can’t do much better than that.”

Robert Morse, director of data research for U.S. News & World Report, announced the new findings in his blog, Morse Code: Inside the College Rankings.

“An overperforming school’s undergraduate reputation among its academic peers has not kept pace with what it has achieved in the underlying academic indicators. This could be because academic reputation is a lagging indicator – it can take time for a school’s academic peers to understand the real progress of a university,” he wrote.

Maryville, founded in 1872, entered the National Universities category of U.S. News & World Report rankings in 2012. It is one of only three St. Louis institutions that are ranked. Maryville is also highly ranked by Forbes and Kiplinger’s as a best value.

As a private, independent university, Maryville enrolls more than 5,000 students and offers more than 55 undergraduate majors, 10 master’s degrees and four doctoral degrees.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters congratulated each of the Best & Brightest Scholars who received scholarships at the 11th Annual Opening Door Awards hosted by the Millennium Momentum Foundation, Inc.